Book - 2005 - Dov Schwartz - Astral Magic in Medieval Jewish Thought PDF

Studies on Astral
Magic in Medieval
Jewish Thought
by
Dov Schwartz
Translated by
David Louvish and Batya Stein
BRILL
LEIDEN BOSTON
•
2005
contents v
CONTENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Chapter One — Judah Halevi and Abraham Ibn Ezra

Judah Halevi: Astral Magic and Esoteric Writing . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Thought and Literary Style of Judah Halevi . . . . . . . 1
A Divine v. an Astral Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Ancient Wisdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Abraham ibn Ezra: Mysteries and their Interpretation. . . . . . 9
Supreme Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Astral Magic and Idolatry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The Astral Magic Mystery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Expanding the Magic-Astral Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Chapter Two — Magic, Experiential Science, and Scientific

Method in Maimonides
The Foundations of the Maimonidean Controversy . . . . . . . . 28
Two Kinds of Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
A Hidden Polemic? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Experiential Knowledge and Astral Magic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Criticism of Maimonides’ Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Influence and Rejection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Chapter Three — From Theurgy to Magic: Sacrifice in the

Circle of Nahmanides and his Interpreters
The Secret of Sacrifice According to Nahmanides: Theurgy
v. Astral Magic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
A Representative Secret: Evidence of Disciples and Colleagues 66
The Split within the Circle of Nahmanides’ Interpreters . . . . 69
The Theurgic Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
The Magic-Astral Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Astral Magic in the Writings of Rashba and Ritba . . . . . . . . . 79
Astral Magic in Ritba’s Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
vi contents
Chapter Four — Institutionalization

Drawing Down Spirituality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Astral Magic as a Real Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Magic-Astral Interpretation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Distinctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Reasons for the Commandments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
The Magic-Astral Mystery of the Torah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Tabernacle, Temple and Sacrifices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Demons as Astral Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Critique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Demons as Creatures of Fancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Demons as the Spirituality of the Stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Chapter Five — The Controversy in Provence

Positions in the Debate over Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
External Influences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Four Positions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Twofold Prohibition: The Moderate Rationalists . . . . . . . . . . 127
Between Astrology and Astral Magic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
The Means Becomes the End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
The Relationship between Magic and Philosophy:
The Traditionalists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
A Threefold Prohibition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Between Theory and Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Effigies, Images and Divination: An Intermediate Position. 140
Psychological Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
The Popular Belief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Healing Images” as an “Ancient Wisdom”: The Believers’
Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Astral Magic as a Theological Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Chapter Six — The Controversy in Spanish Jewry

The Background to the Controversy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
The Controversial Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
The Scapegoat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Dietary Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
The Core of the Debate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
contents vii
Chapter Seven — Jewish Rationalism In Late Medieval

Byzantium
Wandering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Receptiveness and Moderation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Elitism and Esoteric Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Limits and Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Chapter Eight — Magic, Astrology, and Theology in Late

Medieval Byzantium
Unique Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
An Unknown Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Science or Craft? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Magic of the Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
An Intermediate Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Common Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Astral Magic and Communion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Conjunction with God through Magical Means . . . . . . . . 215
Astral Magic and Segullot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Astral Magic and Esotericism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Astral Magic v. Other Magic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Astral Magic and Idolatry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
The Harmonistic Approach: Moskoni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Negation: Comtino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Magic and Kabbalistic Abundance: Ephraim ben Gershon 224
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Epilogue — Astral Magic and the Philosophy of Science

Magic and a Developmental Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Magic and Esotericism in Judaism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Wavering between Traditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
introduction ix
INTRODUCTION
This book deals with a specific kind of magic,1 widespread among

Jewish intellectuals from the early twelfth century onwards and known
as astral magic. The focus of the discussion is on the period up to the
expulsion from Spain. Astral magic is predicated on the assumption
that individuals can utilize celestial elements for their benefit and
advantage. Stars and signs release a constant and steady emanation
known as råhaniyy§t [spirituality], which is also endowed with extraor-
dinary forces. The quality of the emanation and the character of the
supreme forces are determined by the influencing signs and planets
and their location in heaven. The celestial emanation and the supreme
forces can be absorbed and directed in the terrestrial world on condi-
tion suitable preparations are made, and their absorption is known
as “drawing down” [horadah or hanahah]. The magician brings down
this spirituality for practical purposes, such as changing the course of
natural forces, predicting the future, or healing the sick. Exploiting
this emanation or these celestial powers requires detailed and exact
knowledge about the circumstances surrounding the sources of the
emanation (the celestial bodies such as planets and constellations), as
well as of the preparations required.
What ensures success in drawing down the stellar emanation?
Preparations involve the creation or procuring, at a specific time,
of an image, an effigy or an amulet that symbolize the emanating
source, the planet or the constellation. This preparation presumes
sympathetic interaction between heaven and earth, and between the
symbol and what is symbolized. Often, the symbol of the emanating
star or constellation is engraved on the image.2
1 The term magic in the present context is problematic. Many students of
medieval astral magic would strongly contest this definition, emphasizing that this
is a scientific field. But Aristotelian science, which was dominant during this period,
did not recognize astral magic as a science and we have accordingly opted for the
term magic that has no room in Aristotle’s scientific world. This distinction between
the Aristotelian scientific paradigm and the one stressing the phenomenon of magic
is discussed at length in the book.
2 For a concise summary, see, for instance, Richard Kieckhefer, Magic in the Middle
Ages (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 131-133. Cosmic sympathy, on

which astrology and astral magic are predicated, is a notion developed in Greek and
x introduction
How does the magic action take place? The magician’s act
involves several stages:
1. A meticulous examination of the specific configuration of stars and
constellations that could yield the desired result. For instance, if
the aim is to heal sickness, magicians will consult astrological and
magical sources to find out what stellar configuration will summon
the emanation that will cure the illness. The configuration might
be a specific constellation rising on the horizon (“ascendant”)’, a
particular planet (mesharet) found within the sign’s area (“house”),
or the encounter of two planets within the sign’s house (“conjunc-
tion”). Often, the configuration intended by the magician is quite
elementary and includes only a single constellation or star.
2. Preparing an effigy or image that symbolizes the emanating celestial
configuration.
3. Procuring the image at a time the stars and constellations are
arranged in an influential configuration. In the present example,
the magician places the effigy on the body part affected by the
illness, when the star or constellation is influential.
4. Using various auxiliary techniques, such as incense burning, pray-
ing to the stars, invocations, using magic names, and so forth.
Systematic formulations of astral magic appear in the Hermetic lit-
erature of the first three centuries CE referring to the revelation of
Hermes’ secrets, the god identified with Thoth, the Egyptian god
of wisdom. Both Greeks and Romans related to ancient Egyptian
religion as a kind of “ancient truth” and hence singularly significant.
Systematic formulations of astral magic, then, develop as the pagan
mythological religions in the ancient East and in the Hellenistic world
are waning. Hermetic literature includes a philosophical world view
that comprises Neoplatonic, Stoic, and Eastern elements, together
with astrological conceptions and detailed techniques of magic and
astral magic.3 These techniques were meant to assist in attaining the
Roman culture, particularly in the Stoa. Stoic philosophers systematically formulate

the notion of sympathy as part of their outlook on immanence. See, for instance,
Samuel Sambursky, Physics of the Stoics (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987),
41-43; Robert B. Todd, “Monism and Immanence: The Foundations of Stoic Physics”
in The Stoics, ed. John M. Rist (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978), 151;
Liba Chaia Taub, Ptolemy’s Universe: The Natural Philosophical and Ethical Foundations of
Ptolemy’s Astronomy (Chicago, Ill.: Open Court, 1993), 129.
3 In many astrological and magical traditions, Hermes’ name is linked to hermetic
introduction xi
speculative and ecstatic goal to which Hermetic literature directs its

readers. Aesculapius, a philosophical work in the Hermetic corpus,
formulates the magic principle of drawing down spirituality on images
in Hermes’ answer to a question by Aesculapius, who gives the book
its name:
[The qualities of the gods and their influences4] come from a mixture of
plants, stones and spices, Asclepius, that have in them a natural power
of divinity.5 And this is why those gods are entertained with constant
sacrifices, with hymns, praises and sweet sounds in tune with heaven’s
harmony:6 so that the heavenly ingredient enticed into idol by constant
communication with heaven7 may gladly endure its long stay among
humankind.8
Magic and theurgic views also feature in the Neoplatonic writings
of Proclus and Iamblichus, and Hermetism also played a significant
role in the growth of alternative approaches to the Aristotelian Welt-
anschauung. The scientific Aristotelian legacy states that the physical
order of the material world is explainable mainly from within and
without recourse to supernal levels, so that the origin of the laws of
movement, for instance, should not be sought in the celestial world.
The doctrine of natural locations, whereby each of the four elements
(earth, water, air, and fire) strives to return to its natural setting,
explains the movement of the elements. Aristotle makes the laws of
the universe dependent on the celestial, supernal world only in specific
literature and its surroundings. See, for instance, Hans Dieter Betz, ed., The Greek
Magical Papyri in Translation: Including the Demotic Spells (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1986), 54-55; Andre-Jean Festugière, La révélation d’Hermés Trismegiste, vol. 1,
L’astrologie et les sciences occultees (Paris: J. Gabalda, 1949); Idem, Hermetisme et mystique
païenne (Paris: Aubier-montaigne, 1967); Frances Amelia Yates, Giordano Bruno and the
Hermetic Tradition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964), 44-61.
4 In the available Latin translation, qualitas, through which the writer refers to
magical forces.
5 In Latin, divinitatis naturalem vim. In Festugière’s reading, cited in p. 256 of
Copenhaver’s translation (see note 8 below), “hidden spiritual power.” Could also
be read as “hidden celestial power.”
6 Reflecting the Pythagorical tradition, whereby the moving spheres make
sounds.
7 In Latin, caelestius. According to Nock’s reading, cited in p. 257. It could also
be translated as “celestial world.”

8 The passage as cited is from Brian P. Copenhaver, ed. and trans., Hermetica:
The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius in a New English Translation, with Notes
and Introduction (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), 90.
xii introduction
cases and, even then, confines it to the movement of the sun.9 By

contrast, other traditions, including the Hermetic one, seek to explain
physical processes by relying to some extent on the stellar effect on
the material world. According to these views, stellar emanations exert
essential influence upon processes in the material world, a conception
that paves the way for astral magic.
In the twelfth century, astral magic assumes a role in the philo-
sophical discourse of Jewish-Spanish culture and becomes a convenient
platform for various theological doctrines. Judah Halevi relies on astral
magic rather than on theoretical considerations to explain the view
that the commandments are the vehicle to religious perfection. Astral
magic is based on experience, and is thus no different from astrology.
Just as in astral magic the preparation is what draws the emanation
down, in Judaism observing the commandments leads to the realization
of prophecy. Judah Halevi attacks contemporary theoretical science
by presenting Judaism as an alternative science, with astral magic as
one of its most essential elements. Abraham Ibn Ezra also holds that
astrology and astral magic are essential to the building of a Jewish
theology. Since Ibn Ezra ascribes great value to astrology and even
focuses his scientific concern on it, astrology becomes a mainstay of
his biblical exegesis. The approach of these two thinkers will concern
us in Chapter One of this book.
Maimonides’ authority deals a fatal blow to this young theology.
Maimonides targets his attack on astral magic, denies it any value, and
forbids it on religious grounds, presenting it as idolatry. Maimonides’
harsh critique is the subject of Chapter Two.
The rationalists’ neglect of astral magic as a serious theological
factor appears to have paved its way to the hearts of many Spanish
kabbalists. Whereas the rationalists abandon any intensive concern
with astral-magic theology during the thirteenth century, the kab-
balists preserve these traditions and an entire school of Nahmanides’
disciples turns astral magic into a legitimate theology, as discussed in
Chapter Three.
Eventually, astral magic reaches the core of the philosophical-ratio-
nalist consensus prevalent in Provence and Spain. Toward the end
of the thirteenth century, it is appropriated by many rationalists for
its medical uses. University courses at Montpellier and Bologna, for
9 Aristotle, De generatione et corruptione, trans. C. J. F. Williams (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1982), II:10.

introduction xiii
instance, begin teaching the uses of astral magic in healing. Bernard

Gordon and Arnold of Villanova taught healing through amulets, as
Joseph Shatzmiller shows.10 Doctors were required to prove their astro-
logical expertise to be allowed to practice. Times for the administra-
tion of medication were often set according to astrological methods.11
Despite the conflict that erupted among Provence Jews, astral magic
was not banned. The controversies in Provence and Spain are the
subject of Chapters Four and Five.
The medical-practical uses of astral magic were probably instru-
mental in returning the theological concern with it. Paragons of four-
teenth century rationalism consistently present exegeses of biblical
texts directly based on principles of astral magic. At the same time,
and rather naturally, Ibn Ezra is presented as a forerunner of Jewish
rationalism, beside Maimonides. Supercommentaries on Ibn Ezra’s
biblical exegeses begin to appear, written by contemporary Spanish
rationalists and emphasizing astral magic as an essential element of
their interpretation. Chapter Six describes this phenomenon, marking
the return of astral magic to the theological map.
The influence of Spanish culture is also evident in other geographi-
cal areas, some of them far-flung, which also came to endorse these
modes of explanation. Among them is the group of Byzantine rationalist
thinkers in the late Middle Ages that have hardly been studied. Chapter
Seven, then, briefly outlines the structure and horizons of Byzantine
rationalist thought during this period. Chapter Eight delves into the
unique character of this culture’s astral magical explanations. Some of
the works influenced by Byzantine culture reflect Spanish approaches,
while others are distinctly unique. The comparison between astral
magical theology in Spanish and Byzantine cultures points to some
unique Byzantine viewpoints. The epilogue outlines the implications
of the studies in this book for the philosophy of science.
Preliminary or partial versions of various chapters in this book have
been published before. Several chapters have appeared in Hebrew in
10 Joseph Shatzmiller, “In Search of the Book of Figures: Medicine and Astrology
in Montpellier at the Turn of the Fourteenth Century,” AJS Review 7/8 (1982/1983),
383-407; Joseph Shatzmiller, “The Forms of the Twelve Constellations: A Fourteenth
Century Controversy,” in Shlomo Pines Jubilee Volume: On the Occasion of His Eightieth
Birthday, ed. Moshe Idel, Warren Zeev Harvey and Eliezer Schweid (Jerusalem:
Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought, 1988), 397-408.
11 Per-Gunnar Ottoson, Scholastic Medicine and Philosophy: A Study of Commentaries on
Galen’s Tegni ca. 1300-1450 (Napoli: Bibliopolis, 1984), 258-259.

xiv introduction
my two books on the subject: Astral Magic in Medieval Jewish Thought

(Ramat Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1999) and Amulets, Properties,
and Rationalism in Medieval Jewish Thought (Ramat Gan: Bar-Ilan Uni-
versity Press, 2004). Others have been published as articles and are
reprinted in this book by kind permission of the publishers. Chapter
Two is to appear in Maimonidean Studies 5, by Yeshiva University. The
Hebrew version of Chapter Three was published in Kabbalah: Journal
for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts 4 (1999): 387-411, Cherub Publish-
ers. Abridged English versions of Chapters Three, Seven, and Eight
appeared in Aleph 3 (2002): 165-211, and are reprinted by kind per-
mission of Aleph: Historical Studies in Judaism and Science, published by
The Sydney M. Edelstein Center for the History and Philosophy of
Science, Technology and Medicine and the Institute of Jewish Studies,
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
To my friend, Prof. Gad Freudenthal, my gratitude for his crucial
assistance in the writing of the epilogue. Thanks to my translators,
Batya Stein and David Louvish. The breadth of their interests, their
patience, and their generosity proved essential to the writing of this
book. Working with Prof. Neusner was, as usual, a highly rewarding
and gratifying experience.
judah halevi and abraham ibn ezra 1
CHAPTER ONE
JUDAH HALEVI AND ABRAHAM IBN EZRA
Astral magic begins to serve as a crucial theological element in Jewish

thought at the beginning of the twelfth century, and one of the first
thinkers to lay solid foundations for a magic astral exegesis of the Torah
and its commandments is Judah Halevi. His arguments, discussed
below in detail, will also provide clues to his style in The Kuzari.
Judah Halevi: Astral Magic and Esoteric Writing
The Thought and Literary Style of Judah Halevi

Scholars of Judah Halevi—the thinker, the poet, and the aesthete—rec-
ognize that attempts to understand the philosophical content of The
Kuzari must take into account the book’s form. The esoteric literary
style of The Kuzari, which requires the reader to decipher contradictions
and understand hints, has been recurrently discussed in the research
literature, from Leo Strauss’s pioneer work,1 and up to studies by
Shlomo Pines, Eliezer Schweid, Yohanan Silman, and others.2 These
scholars seek to show that Judah Halevi wavers between his recognition
of philosophy, which is predicated on reason, and his perception of
it as inferior to revelation. The esoteric character of Judah Halevi’s
literary style, however, is not confined to the status of reason; it is also
reflected in other matters, such as his controversy with Christianity
1 Leo Strauss, “The Law of Reason in The Kuzari,” in Persecution and the Art of
Writing (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1988), 95-141.
2 On the literary style of The Kuzari, see, for instance, Shlomo Pines, “Note sur la
doctrine de la prophétie et la réhabilitation de la Matière dans le Kuzari,” Mélanges de

philosophie et de littérature juives 1-2 (1956-1957): 253-260; Eliezer Schweid, “The Liter-
ary Structure of the First Book of The Kuzari” [Hebrew], Tarbiz 30 (1961): 257-272;
Idem, “The Art of Dialogue in The Kuzari and its Speculative Meaning” [Hebrew],
in Feeling and Speculation (Ramat Gan: Massada, 1970), 37-79; Aryeh Leo Motzkin,
“On Judah Halevi’s The Kuzari as a Platonic Dialogue” [Hebrew], Iyyun 28 (1978):
209-219; Yohanan Silman, Philosopher and Prophet : Judah Halevi, The Kuzari, and the
Evolution of his Thought, trans. Lenn J. Schramm (Albany, NY: SUNY, 1995); Idem,
“The Literary Aspect of The Kuzari” [Hebrew], Da#at 32-33 (1994): 53-65.
2 chapter one
and his view of messianism.3 The assumption of esotericism in the

book thus requires a reconsideration of all its questions in light of its
style, including the issue of astral magic. As shown below, the atti-
tude toward astral magic will emerge as one of the peaks of esoteric
writing in The Kuzari.
Several scholars have already adopted a magical interpretation of
Judah Halevi’s outlook regarding the commandments’ mode of action
and their function as a vehicle to perfection for those who abide by
them. The most important study in this regard is Shlomo Pines’
detailed study of The Kuzari’s magic-astral character.4 Pines indicates
that Judah Halevi equates the effect of the commandments with the
bringing down of spirituality and explains the prophets’ influence on
their surroundings in light of the magic-astral model. Finally, Pines also
shows that Judah Halevi explains in magic-astral terms the advantage
of Judaism as a divine religion:
What is the basis for The Kuzari’s statement concerning Judaism’s supe-
riority over pagan religions? Judah Halevi is unequivocal on this count:
he holds, as noted in the passage quoted above (1:97), that Judaism
is superior to religions relying on råhaniyy§t [spirituality], on activities
involving talismans, and so forth, because it is more efficient. The
worship—the rituals—of the pagan religions resembles the actions of
a layman working as a doctor, who uses the medicines in his posses-
sion without understanding their purpose, the required dosage, and the
circumstances of their administration to the patient. Judaism, however,
particularly as it had been known before the exile, abundantly provided
and still continues to do so the required information and the ability to
deal with issues for which religion ensures the most beneficial support.
The utilitarian criterion, then, enables the comparison of which I spoke
above, proving Judaism’s superiority. If you will, Judaism is an efficient
and useful theurgy, whereas the pagan religions to which Judah Halevi
refers are intrinsically unfounded theurgies, because they are far from
3 See Dov Schwartz, Messianism in Medieval Jewish Thought [Hebrew] (Ramat Gan:
Bar-Ilan University Press, 1997), 63-69. On the anti-Christian controversy, see idem,
Astral Magic in Medieval Jewish Thought [Hebrew] (Ramat Gan: Bar-Ilan University
Press, 1999), 41-47, 58-61.
4 Shlomo Pines, “On the Term Råhaniyy§t and its Origin, and on Judah Halevi’s
Doctrine” [Hebrew], Tarbiz 57 (1988), especially 524-530. See also David H. Baneth,
“R. Judah Halevi and Al-Gh§zalÊ” [Hebrew], Knesset 7 (1942): 328; Yitzhak Heine-
mann, The Reasons for the Commandments in the Tradition [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: WZO,
1966); Moshe Idel, “Hermeticism and Judaism,” in Hermeticism and the Renaissance:
Intellectual History and the Occult in Early Modern Europe, ed. Ingrid Merkel and Allen
Debus (London and Toronto: Associated University Presses, 1988), 62.
ensuring any benefits resembling the efficiency and usefulness that Juda-
ism, as a theurgy, provides through its system of commandments.5
According to this passage, Judah Halevi presents a magic-astral per-
ception of Judaism, viewing the commandments’ mode of action as
a parallel (and effective) model of magic-astral activity. Idolaters and
image worshippers fail to bring down spirituality effectively, whereas
those who observe the commandments receive the divine (astral?) ema-
nation. The magic-astral model as a “true” key for the understanding
of the commandments, including their details and their timing, was
later endorsed in the doctrines of such thinkers as Abraham Ibn Ezra
and Nahmanides.6 In other contexts in the present volume, Judah
Halevi also emerges as the paramount source for the incorporation
of the astral magic model into the theological arguments of Jewish
philosophy.
As noted, Pines’ important discussion of The Kuzari’s magical char-
acter, like those of his predecessors, failed to take the book’s esoteric
style into account. This style emerges in a magic-astral context mainly
in Judah Halevi’s explanation of the sin of the golden calf (1:97). My
chief claim in the discussion below is that Judah Halevi suggests the
magic-astral explanation as the sole option for explaining this sin,
hence the presentation of Judaism as a kind of effective astral magic
technique.
A Divine v. an Astral Source

Judah Halevi indicates that the main motivation for the sin of the
golden calf was the attraction of ancient paganism. He points to two
views concerning the source of the emanation: God and the stars.
The emanation can be exploited through “effigies” that symbolize its
origin, such as the image of the calf. At the opening of his discussion
on this issue, Judah Halevi writes as follows:
Some of these nations ascribed this [referring to powers or “miraculous”
and “strange” possibilities] to God, even as we do today concerning places
we revere, to the point of finding ourselves blessed by them and by their
dust and stones. Others ascribed this to the spirituality of a particular
star or constellation, or of a talisman,7 or other such things.8
5 Pines, “On the Term Råhaniyy§t and its Origin,” 529. Compare also The Kuzari
3:23.
6 See below, 9-26 and 55-90.
7 In the original Arabic, “aw burÇ aw nisbah tal§sim.” The original is cited from
4 chapter one
According to the first view, the effigy is blessed by divine emanation, as

the holy places illustrate. The divine emanation is a source of utilitarian
achievements, and the effigy symbolizes and conveys the emanation.
According to the second view, the effigy functions as an image for
drawing down the spirituality of the stars and signs. Both views can explain
the motivation behind the sin of the golden calf and Judah Halevi
does not appear to have chosen between them. At the opening of
section 1:97, then, we do not know what had been intended when
making the golden calf—to draw down the divine emanation or the
spirituality of the stars.
The rest of the discussion on the sin of the golden calf ostensibly
points to the adoption of the former view, namely, that emanation is
divine. According to Judah Halevi, God provided holy means, such
as the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud, and Moses knew how to
use them for beneficial purposes. Furthermore, Moses went up Mount
Sinai to bring further devices that would be a source of blessing to
the desert wanderers (the ark and the tablets):
The children of Israel had been promised that God would send them
a visible object that they could follow, as they had followed the pillar
of cloud and the pillar of fire when leaving Egypt, something concrete
they would venerate, to which they would turn, before which they would
bow to God’s glory… and Moses ascended the mount in order to bring
down the two tables of the law, written by the hand of God. In order for
them to have a visible object that they could address, he [Moses] was
supposed to build an ark for them to contain the sign of the covenant
with God, the two tables that God Himself had created. It [the ark]
would be wrapped in the cloud and in the glory, and miracles would
become manifest through His intermediary.9
According to Judah Halevi’s explanation, the ark is a source of divine
blessing, and that is why it is said, “God resides in it.”10
Yet, after the reader identifies the golden calf as a source of bless-
ing, Judah Halevi makes a seemingly passing remark from which we
Kit§b Al-Radd Wa-‘l-DalÊl FÊ’l-DÊn Al-DhalÊl (Al-Kit§b Al-KhazarÊ), ed. David H. Baneth
(Jerusalem: Magnes Press and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1977),
30, ll. 2-3. The Hebrew translation of Shmuel Ibn Tibbon is incorrect here. Ibn
Tibbon, who may have wanted to play down the talismanic aspect, wrote here: “or
a star from among the stars or a constellation or other such things.”
8 The Kuzari 1:97.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
infer his actual interpretation. The remark is implicit in the following

apology:
In committing this sin, the children of Israel had not sought release
from the duty of obedience they owed to Him who had led them out
of Egypt. They only violated one of His commandments, because God
had banned effigies and they made one. They should have waited,
without setting up for themselves an image for worship, an altar, and
sacrifices. And they did so on the advice of astrologers and builders of
talismans11 who had thought that their actions, as dictated by reason,
would be more correct than true deeds. In doing this, they behaved
as the fool of whom we have already spoken [1:89], who entered the
doctor’s surgery and killed the people who had formerly been helped
by the medicines provided there.12
In this passage, Judah Halevi reveals his view: the golden calf was
made in order to receive and absorb stellar emanations according
to the advice of the sorcerers who draw down spirituality from the
planets (“astrologers and builders of talismans”). Ab initio, then, Judah
Halevi tends to explain the sin of the golden calf according to prin-
ciples of astral magic, whereas the alternative explanation, presented
first and discussed below, was meant to conceal the genuine magic-
astral leanings. Hence, the other objects that had been the source of
a blessing—the pillar of cloud, the pillar of fire, the tablets, and the
ark—have astral-magic meaning.
The reason for the concealment and the writing between the lines
is patent. Judah Halevi presents a new, magic-astral interpretation of
the events in the desert. According to this interpretation, the people of
Israel were a nation of slaves recently liberated and released into the
desert’s dangers and terrors. In order to satisfy their ongoing needs,
they needed means to draw down spirituality and they also needed
Moses, who knew how to attract the astral emanation. According to
the utilitarian magic-astral explanation, the people of Israel feared the
perils lurking in a menacing desert, and felt even more threatened
when Moses disappeared after ascending the mount without announc-
ing his return. Hence, they made the golden calf as an alternative to
the previous devices, seeking an image and an effigy that would help
11 In the original, “al-munjimÊn wal-mutalsimÊn” (Baneth, Kit§b Al-Radd, 31, ll. 7-8),
and this is also how Judah ibn Shmuel translates. Ibn Tibbon translated “seers and
astrologers,” insisting on concealing the talismanic aspect.
12 The Kuzari, 1:97.
6 chapter one
them survive in the desert. Their sin, then, or that of some of them,
is the initiative to create effigies to draw down the emanation instead
of waiting for God to guide them on how to do this. God did indeed
deliver such guidance in the shape of the commandments: “Making
the effigies was not itself foreign, since He commanded us to make
the cherubim.”13 Judah Halevi, then, holds that talismans (“effigies”)
of some kind were placed in the Tabernacle and the Temple in order
to bring down spirituality.
Ancient Wisdom
We can now surmise why Judah Halevi wished to cloak astral magic
in secrecy and conceal it behind hints meant for the wise. The eso-
teric status of astral magic reflected the status of astrology in general.
The Khazar king accurately discerns that the commandments’ mode
of action rests on “powers reigning over hours, days, and places, as
the astrologers do.”14 In his response, the Rabbi criticizes astrologers
directly:
Do we reject the idea that heavenly spheres influence terrestrial matters?
We do not! We recognize that matter, which generates and corrupts, is
subject to the Sphere, but the forms are given by Him who guides them,
sets them into action, and uses them as instruments to generate all the
beings He wishes should exist. We do not know the precise details of
this process whilst the astrologer pretends to know the particulars, but
we deny he has this knowledge and categorically declare that no mortal
possesses it. If we find in this knowledge any element that relies on the
authority of a revealed divine science, we accept it. We rest satisfied
with the mentions of astrology in the words of our sages because we
believe it to be transmitted by a divine power and hold it to be true.
Otherwise, this science is but conjecture, and our earthly lot has more
truth to it.15
This passage clarifies that the Rabbi agrees with the underlying
assumption of the Khazar king. The mechanism of the halakhic act
is indeed based on the changing influences of the stars, according to
the time and place. Furthermore, Jewish sources endorse astrologi-
cal theories, and this is the meaning of the minimalist statement in
the above passage: the astrological material that appears in rabbinic
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid., 4:8.
15 Ibid., 4:9.
literature is valid. Judah Halevi’s critique, therefore, is not directed

against the principles of astrology itself—including its influence on
human character, on the nation and on the world, as suggested in the
talmudic quoted intimated in this passage—but against the astrologers’
pretension to know them without the “divine power.” It is in this
spirit that we must understand the constant deprecation of astrology
as “vanities” throughout The Kuzari,16 as well as the transformation
undergone by Abraham, who was told: “‘Go forth from thy planet
gazing’ [TB Sabbath 156b]. That is to say, He commanded him to
leave off his speculative researches, such as astrology, and cleave to
His worship.”17 Astrology is therefore rejected as are the other sci-
ences, including philosophy (5:2), as a weakness of human reasoning
in search for the revealed truth. The principles of astrology, however,
remain valid, and can only be discovered through revelation. One instance of
such knowledge is the fact that the Land of Israel “possesses a special
power in its air, its soil, and its heaven.”18
The special attitude toward astrology leads us to trace the reasons
behind the concealment of the magic-astral outlook in The Kuzari.
When dealing with the golden calf in general, Judah Halevi empha-
sizes that preparing effigies was a practice widespread in the ancient
world although, in the course of time, these mysteries were distorted by
“dissolute”19 nations. When presenting the philosopher’s view, Judah
Halevi chooses to introduce several figures representing the pinnacle of
intellectual attainment, such as “Hermes, Aesculapius, Socrates, Plato
and Aristotle,”20 individuals in conjunction with the Active Intellect.
16 Ibid., 1:49; 4:23.

17 Ibid., 4:17. See also 4:27.
18 Ibid., 4:17. This passage shows that the closeness and association of the Land
of Israel with “heaven” have distinctive astrological meanings. For other meanings,
see Yohanan Silman, “The Earthliness of the Land of Israel in The Kuzari” [Hebrew],
in The Land of Israel in Medieval Jewish Thought, ed. Moshe Hallamish and Aviezer
Ravitzky (Jerusalem: Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, 1991), 85-86.
19 Judah Halevi was particularly critical of The Book of Nabatean Agriculture (1:61).
In his commentary on The Kuzari, the Nazir (David Hacohen) notes Judah Halevi’s
equivocal attitude to Indian tradition. On the one hand, he describes the Indians
as a dissolute nation; on the other hand, his description of the Indian king in the
parable at the beginning of the book denotes great admiration. See Dov Schwartz,
ed, The Annotated Kuzari: The Kuzari of Rabbenu Judah Halevi with Summaries of the Lec-
tures by Our Teacher the Nazir [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Nezer David, 1997), 1:68. This
attitude could suggest overt rebuke and covert esteem for the representatives of the
Hermetic tradition.
20 The Kuzari, 1:1. See also Idel, “Hermeticism and Judaism.”
8 chapter one
Just as he casts doubts on many elements of Aristotelian science, Judah

Halevi also holds that Hermetic traditions are not founded on absolute
knowledge. This knowledge is only acquired through revelation (such
as presenting the cherubim as “effigies,” namely, legitimate images
for drawing down the emanation) and, in this sense, astrology and
the drawing down of spirituality are equal. Hermes and Aesculapius,
however, are included among the ancient paragons of the search for
perfection.
Note that Hermes and Aesculapius, central figures in Hermetic
literature, are equated with the founders of classic Greek philosophy
and even precede them in the list of those who had attained intellectual
perfection. Judah Halevi approaches the Hermetic traditions in which
astral magic plays a significant role as an unquestionable expression
of ancient wisdom, a view that concurs with accepted contemporary
perceptions. This approach merits comparison with an invocation
mentioned in Picatrix, a twelfth-century magic text in Arabic. The
invocation or prayer, to be uttered when drawing down spirituality,
reads as follows:
When doing this, you should say immediately after: I call upon you,
the supreme spiritualities, in whom is and from whom comes all human
wisdom, to answer me and draw me close to you, and teach me your
wisdom, and strengthen me with your power, and let me understand what
I do not, and draw me away from events and from the harm caused by
distortion or forgetfulness until you bring me to the rung of the greatest
ancient sages and soothe my heart, and do not forsake me.21
The magician, then, seeks the status ascribed to the ancient sages.
He probably aspires to be a link in the continuous chain of sages
fluent in the mysteries of magic, and seeks to attain “wisdom” from
these spiritualities. Abu Aflah had already written in Sefer ha-Tamar
that most of his concern with “spiritual wisdom” is based on “the
ancients, who invented it in pure minds.”22
We find, then, that Judah Halevi adopted both the view concerning
the influence of råhaniyy§t [spirituality], meaning the celestial spiritual
emanation, and the need for effigies as material and psychological aids
in the concentration of abstract contents, as required by God’s worship.
21 Cited from the Hebrew translation of Picatrix (Gh§yat al-hakÊm), Munich Ms.
214, 62b.
22 Gershom Scholem, “Sefer ha-Tamar by Abu Aflah al-Sarakosti” [Hebrew],
Kiryat Sefer 3 (1926-1927): 190, l. 11.

Throughout, he is clearly aware of Hermetic sources. Judah Halevi

seems to have known that this is a new theological doctrine close to
idolatry, which is not explicitly mentioned in the traditional sources
of Judaism. Nevertheless, he ascribes the drawing down of spirituality
to the ancients and describes it as wisdom. He may have feared reac-
tions from both rationalists and traditionalists, and therefore prefers to
downplay, as usual, the significance of literary esoteric sources. In the
same context, note that Moslem sources also perceive astral magic as
a realm to be concealed. “The Brethren of Purity,” for instance, do
not give details of Sufi doctrines, although they do ascribe significant
weight to them and explain this is required by the need to conceal
Hermetic approaches.23 The magic-astral interpretation of Jewish
sources begins with Judah Halevi, under the cover of mystery. This
course of Judah Halevi will be pursued to some extent by Abraham
Ibn Ezra, who presented additional techniques for concealing magic-
astral interpretations of the sources of Judaism.
Abraham ibn Ezra: Mysteries and their Interpretation
A caveat must precede any definitive statement about Abraham ibn

Ezra’s doctrine: his biblical commentary and his theological writings
are couched in an enigmatic language that precludes clear-cut con-
clusions, and his writings on astral magic mark one of the pinnacles
of this allusive, concealing style.
Ibn Ezra explicitly notes that celestial forces play a decisive role
in shaping processes and events in the terrestrial world. This is his
exegesis of the verse about God descending to earth (“and the Lord
came down”): “All things on earth below are dependent upon the
supreme powers; all actions are arranged from heaven. Therefore, God
is known as the one who “rides upon the heaven” (Deuteronomy 33:26)
and “dwellest in the heavens” (Psalms 123:1).”24 Many of his biblical
23 See Yves Marquet, “Sabéens et IÈw§n Al-‘afá,” Studia Islamica 25 (1966): 107.
Marquet points to three causes for the concealment strategy: (1) Fear of the zealots
and a desire to draw them closer to Hermetic traditions; (2) Avoiding harm to the
multitude; (3) Downplaying the prominent influence of Hermeticism, which only
those “who possess the knowledge” can understand and justify.
24 Commentary on Genesis 11:5, 141. The English translation of Ibn Ezra’s
commentary on the Torah by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver (New

York: Menorah, 1988-2001) is occasionally quoted.
10 chapter one
commentaries rely on astrological interpretations, and he frequently

considers the magical implications of biblical passages.25
Supreme Power
Supreme power is a crucial notion of Ibn Ezra’s astral magical outlook,
and magical hints are often formulated as a desire to receive or draw
down the supreme power. The terminology referring to the bring-
ing down of spiritual power recurs in Picatrix, the series of texts on
magic originally written in Arabic that were probably known to Ibn
Ezra. For instance, the group of prayers to the planets that appears
in Picatrix includes fixed formulae for requests from specific planets:
“May you send spirituality from your spirituality and power from your
power” (to Venus);26 “May you send power from your spirituality”
(to Mercury).27 In Sefer ha-Atsamim [The Book of Substances], a work
on magic erroneously ascribed to Ibn Ezra, we are told:
When the power that draws them down overcomes the spiritualities,
they will come down to act and comply with what is asked of them,
and those who bring them down will be killed if they lack the skills to
bring down the spirituality as is fitting, through the places, the incense
burning, the sacrifices, the clothes, the meals, and the sayings.28
Statements such as the one in the cited passage are quite common in Ibn
Ezra’s writings. For instance: “All decrees come down from heaven” (Exodus 3:8);
“Heaven—since all [divine] decrees are written and sealed there” (commentary on
Psalms 18:7); “because the book of life is heaven, and it is there that all the decrees
will be written on the day of their creation” (ibid. 69: 29). See also the commentary
on Proverbs 22:1, and on Job 38:33. On Ibn Ezra’s astrological approach, see the
excellent work by Shlomo Sela, Abraham Ibn Ezra and the Rise of Medieval Hebrew Science
(Leiden: Brill, 2003).
25 See David Rosin, “Die Religionsphilosophie Abraham ibn Ezra’s,” MGWJ 42
(1898): 251-252; Colette Sirat, A History of Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1985), 104-112; Raphael Jospe, “Biblical Exegesis as a
Philosophic Literary Genre: Abraham ibn Ezra and Moses Mendelssohn,” in Jewish
Philosophy and the Academy, ed. Emil L. Fackenheim and Raphael Jospe (Madison:
Farleigh Dickinson University Press, 1996), 75-79.
26 Picatrix, Munich Ms., 69b.
27 Ibid., 70a. Ibn Ezra does not use the term “spirituality” or “spirituality of
the star.”
28 Sefer ha-Atsamim [Book of Substances], ed. Menasheh Grosberg (London:
Rabinovitch, 1901), 14. Passages in this style recur in this treatise (for instance, see
ibid., 17). Samuel ibn Zarza, Sefer Meqor Hayyim (Mantua: 1559), 98a. The author
of Sefer ha-Atsamim emphasizes that forces from the stars emanate according to the
preparations made toward them.
Drawing down power refers, in these texts, to the exploitation of

stellar emanations.
What does Ibn Ezra mean by supreme power?29 Let us consider a
passage from his second commentary on Genesis (1:14), where he
defines the term:
I believe that on the first day there was light, but it was not bright.
On the second day it grew until it became the cause of the sky and
the earth became visible. And on the third day it grew until the earth
received supreme power to sprout. On the fourth day it grew until the
lights and the stars were visible. On the fifth day it grew until the water
received power to swarm with life. On the sixth day it grew until the
earth received power to issue cattle and animals. And on the seventh
day it was complete… We cannot deny that the seven orbits [me#onot]
are for the seven servants [meshartim- the planets], and the proof of this
is apodictic, which only mathematicians understand. Let me note the
obvious—were all seven of them in one orbit, one could not hide the
other when their length and width are in conjunction and their orbits
would be equal, and the zodiac is above it.30
The theme of this passage is emanation (appearance of “light”). Ibn

Ezra refers to the movement of the seven “servants” (the planets) and
their varying speeds as the source of processes in the material world.31
The light emerges in heaven gradually, and creation is accordingly
described as the gradual spread of light or as an emanation of the
visible space. The passage also seems to echo a widespread view,
stating that the stars are involved in terrestrial processes.32 The term
29 Raphael Jospe, “The Torah and Astrology According to Ibn Ezra” [Hebrew],
Da#at 32-33 (1994): 42-43.
30 The last argument states that observations demonstrate that the planets’ orbits
and velocities cannot possibly be equal.

31 The expression “seven orbits” refers to the various places [me#onot] that the
spheres traverse in their course, each in its own degree, apparently according to
TB Hagigah 12b (“seven heavens”) and small scientific midrashim such as Beraita
de-Shmuel ha-Katan, ch. 7: “What is the order of the two lights and the five stars? The
sages say this heaven is divided into seven degrees, one above the other, and these
are the seven orbits of these seven stars” (printed in Otsar ha-Midrashim, ed. Yehudah
David Eisenstein [New York: Resnik and Menshel, 1928]). Compare to Ibn Ezra’s
commentary on Psalms 8:4: “We know that there are seven orbits to the lights and
the five planets, the eighth orbit is for the hosts, and the ninth for the zodiac going
from east to west, and the tenth is the throne of glory.” See also the commentary
on Psalms 96:6. Rosin, “Die Religionsphilosophie,” 345, explains the expression as
referring to the houses and the squares.
32 The motif of the light mentioned in this passage indicates the stars’ mode of
12 chapter one
power is not perceived in its classic physical sense, as the act of a par-
ticular body in the propelling or development of another body (touch
or influence). Supreme power refers to such an act by stars affecting
the terrestrial world.33 The influence of stellar powers is visible in
natural processes bound by the laws of physics and in personal and
normative (“legal”) decisions dictated by experience.34 In the passage
above, the stars manifest their power by giving objects the potential
to develop in the material world and by shaping their structure and
characteristics,35 as Ibn Ezra also states in other writings: “Everything
in the lowest world receives power from the middle world, each thing
according to the constellation [of the stars].”36 The action of stellar
power changes from place to place, according to climatic conditions
and according to their configuration vis-à-vis the specific location:
“There is a place which is more receptive to God’s power, and His
might is seen there”;37 “Because some places receive more of the
action as emanation, but this is not necessarily Ibn Ezra’s outlook. He may have
used the light motif in a symbolic sense. He often uses the term power regarding the
activity of the celestial world. On the zodiac, for instance, Ibn Ezra writes: “Now
this important sphere encompasses all the forty eight bodies and their forms. God’s
power is there revealed to the eye” (Exodus 20:14).
33 On the meaning of power in physics, see Aristotle, Physica VII, 5, 250a 4-9. The
expression supreme power appears in Ibn Ezra’s astrological writings too. See Naphtali
Ben-Menahem, ed., Sefer ha-Te#amim (Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1941), 11.
34 “Because their experience will enable astrologers to see great wonders and awe-
some deeds happening daily, according to the power of the stars and their position
vis-à-vis each other, and those who know the supreme wisdom will know that the
deeds of the glorious God are more and more wondrous” (Commentary on Psalms
89:7. Ibn Ezra presents experience as confirming astrological principles in his astro-
logical writings. See, for instance, Judah Leib Fleischer, ed. “Sefer ha-Olam,” Otsar
ha-Hayyim 13 (1937): 17-19; Ben-Menahem, Sefer ha-Te#amim, 22, 32, 36.
35 On power as a potential see Harry Austryn Wolfson, Crescas’ Critique of Aristotle:
Problems of Aristotle’s Physics in Jewish and Arabic Philosophy (Cambridge: Harvard Uni-
versity Press, 1929), 690-693.
36 Commentary on Exodus 6:3. Receiving power means absorbing the emanation
from the stars or their power, whether the star is placed in some aspect or conjunc-
tion with another star, or the influence is evident in the material world according
to the preparations made there. See Raphael Levy and Francisco Cantera, eds. Sefer
Reshit Hokhmah [The Beginning of Wisdom] (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,
1939), lxi; Ben Menahem, Sefer ha-Te#amim, 19, 22. On the term power, see also Sefer
Reshit Hokhmah, lxiv.
37 Commentary on Genesis 4:14. See also Rosin, “Die Religionsphilosophie,”
108-109; Yitzhak Tzvi Langerman, “Some Astrological Themes in the Thought of

Abraham ibn Ezra,” in Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra: Studies in the Writings of a Twelfth-Century
Jewish Polymath, ed. Isadore Twersky and Jay Michael Harris (Cambridge: Harvard
University Center for Jewish Studies, 1993), 43-44.
supreme power than others.”38 The location of the Temple was actu-
ally determined relying on such criteria, namely, by forces influenced
by the stars in specific places.39
The term power also appears in Ibn Ezra’s writings in the context of
the relationship between the intellectual dimension (which is specific
to human beings) and the animate dimension (which they share with
other living creatures), in the sense of a natural force: “The animate
soul [nefesh] lives by virtue of the human soul [neshamah].”40 Both senses
of the term—as a force of nature and as the force of the stars—are
mutually related in Ibn Ezra’s discussions about the soul, which ranks
with the Separate Intellects (“the holy angels that are neither bodies
nor in the bodies”), and he writes:
The human soul is of the same kind.41 It receives power from above in
accordance with the configuration of the planets, that is, the configura-
tion of each planet vis-à-vis the heavenly hosts at the time of a person’s
birth. If the human soul grows wise, it will share the mysteries of the
angels and will be able to receive great power from a supreme power
that received it from the light of the angels. The person will then be in
conjunction with the glorious God.42
38 Genesis 4:13, second commentary.

39 “Because the place mentioned [the Temple] is a counterpart to the glorious
celestial place, for places on earth vary according to the counterpart star above them,
and astrologers will understand this” (commentary on Exodus 15:17); “There are places
where God’s power is more manifest than in other places, for two reasons. Divine
manifestation varies according to the natural circumstances of the recipient and with
with the supreme power that is above the receiver. That is why the place the holy
temple [Mount Moriah] was chosen.” (ibid., 25:40). Ibn Ezra relies on this principle
in his interpretation of the whole of Psalms 24 and in other scattered exegeses, such
as Psalms 132:5. See Langerman, “Some Astrological Themes,” 46.
40 Second commentary on Genesis 2:7. See also the commentary on Psalms 8:3,
73:4., and compare with the definition: “When the soul is strong, the heavenly power
known as nature, which preserves the body, grows in might” (Exodus 23:25). See
also Rosin, “Die Religionsphilosophie,” 449-450; Henry Malter, “Medieval Hebrew
Terms for Nature,” in Judaica: Festschrift zu Hermann Cohens siebzigstem Geburtstage, ed.
Ismar Elbogen et. al. (Berlin: Bruno Cassirer, 1912), 254; Uriel Simon, Abraham ibn
Ezra’s Two Commentaries on the Minor Prophets: An Annotated Critical Edition [Hebrew]
(Ramat-Gan: Bar Ilan University Press, 1989), 258-259.
41 As the Separate Intellects.
42 Exodus 3:15. Compare Moshe Idel, “Hitbodedut as Concentration in Jewish
Philosophy” [Hebrew], in Shlomo Pines Jubilee Volume: On the Occasion of His Eightieth
Birthday, ed. Moshe Idel, Warren Zeev Harvey and Eliezer Schweid (Jerusalem:
Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought, 1988).
14 chapter one
He who is in conjunction with the supreme power, his soul will rejoice
and, through the power of his conjunction with Him, he will be pre-
served from the afflictions of change in the future. His body will thus
dwell safely in this world.43
In the first passage, Ibn Ezra does not specify the wisdom (“if the
human soul grows wise”) to which he is referring.44 Clearly, however,
wisdom allows access to forces emanating from the stars. The sage’s
soul can thus rise and reach conjunction with God by exploiting forces
influenced by the stars. Ibn Ezra is careful to indicate that these forces
are used according to configuration of the planets (“vis-à-vis the heav-
enly hosts”). The soul’s reception of stellar powers is also mentioned
in Picatrix, the Arabic treatise on magic, which states: “Contemplate
your practice and strengthen your reason and your thought in your
act, so that you may thereby strengthen the human soul and prepare
it to receive the full power of the spheres, as you wish.”45
We can therefore state: the assumption that the stars exert influence
through their power (“supreme power”), which is received in different
places and climates, does not necessarily include a magical compo-
nent. The act becomes magical only when the forces are drawn down
through effigies and other objects (talismans). Receiving the supreme
power through sacrificial offerings, through one of the vessels at the
Tabernacle (cherubim or others), or through other means, is an act of
astral magic. Drawing down the supreme power through effigies means
exploiting the power emanating from the stars, and Ibn Ezra uses the
terminology of receiving power in a magical context as well.
Astral Magic and Idolatry

Ibn Ezra states that reliance on astral magic to draw down stellar
forces onto images is forbidden because of its resemblance to idolatry.
In some of his commentaries, Ibn Ezra points to the precise term
describing a worship of images that is close to idolatry: drawing down
supreme powers. Making effigies in order to absorb spirituality without
43Commentary on Psalms 16:9.

44Some scholars have indeed based this passage on theoretical foundations to
exclude a magical interpretation. See Rosin, “Die Religionsphilosophie,” 451. Ibn Ezra’s
terms appear to reflect the influence of Avicenna concerning the intuitive perception
of the universe as a totality (“holy intellect”), which is grasped when human perfection
reaches its height. This outlook was widespread in Jewish medieval thought.
45 Picatrix, 50b.
an explicit textual command to do so violates the belief in direct

divine omnipotence. Ibn Ezra also suggests that making effigies in
the image of celestial bodies in order to draw down their power is
included in the prohibition on the making of images, although he
does not claim this is a vain deed without any reality. He is well
aware of the fact that the prohibition “thou shalt not make for thyself
any carved idol, or any likeness” refers to “the craft of the Heavens”
[melekhet shamayim], as he says:
It forbids the use of any craft for making an image of the heavens…
There are no images in the heavens except for the forty-eight forms,
and the masters of images err, doing deeds close to idolatry.46
[“Lest you become corrupt, and make a carved idol, the similitude of any
figure, the likeness of male or female”] Some Gentiles bow and worship
any beast that they meet at the beginning of their day in order to bring
down the supreme power; for example, they draw down the power of
the scorpion if they want to heal someone who has been bitten. The
same applies to the remaining forty-seven forms.47
In the second passage, on the healing of scorpion bites, Ibn Ezra is
probably referring to the tradition cited in the commentary of Abu
Jaffer Ahmad b. Yusuf b. Ibrahim to the Sefer ha-Peri (Centiloquium)
ascribed to Ptolemy, which is also mentioned in the Picatrix. This
tradition attests to the healing of scorpion bites through a seal on
which a scorpion shape is engraved.48 We learn, then, that drawing
46 Commentary on Exodus 20:3. See ibid. for the concept of “the craft of the
heavens” [melekhet shamayyim]. Ibn Ezra was not definite concerning this prohibition.
In his commentary on Deuteronomy 4:23 [“Take heed to yourselves… and make
you a carved idol, or the likeness of anything, which the Lord thy God has forbidden
thee”] he writes: “Some say that the reference is to the image of the stars, but this
seems far-fetched to me.” Does Ibn Ezra distinguish here between making effigies
for magic-astral purposes as opposed to making them in order to consider or study a
specific characteristic? The clues left by this enigmatic commentator seem insufficient
for unequivocal answers to this question. In most sources, however, he does point
to the resemblance between magic-astral acts and idolatry. On idolatry, see also his
commentary on Deuteronomy 7:13.
47 Commentary on Deuteronomy 4:16.
48 Picatrix, 51b. “One day when I was with him, he received greetings from his
home and was told that one of the boys there had been bitten by a scorpion. When
he heard about it, he ran to a box holding many seals smelling of frankincense and
sent one to the boy. He ordered it to be crushed and given to the boy to drink, and
when they did so the boy stopped screaming and all his pain ceased after he had
finished drinking. I looked at the seals and found the form of a scorpion imprinted on
all of them. When I asked him how the seals had been made, he took out a golden
16 chapter one
down stellar forces on images borders on (“is close to”) idolatry. A very
thin line separates the making of images prohibited as a “craft of the
heavens” and the holy craft of building the Tabernacle undertaken by
Bezalel, who “was gifted with every wisdom. He mastered mathemat-
ics, geometry, proportions, the craft of the heavens, biology, and the
mystery of the human soul.”49
Ibn Ezra also claims that drawing down stellar forces is forbidden
because it might be interpreted as assuming a mediating agent between
human beings and God:
Its meaning is: do not make images that receive supreme powers and
think that you make them for My glory, in that they will serve as an
intermediary between Me and you, like the golden calf which Israel
made… I have no need for mediators.50
Thou shalt not bow down unto them. As do the masters of images,
who think that they can bring down the supreme powers for a given
person.51
The reason for “thou shalt have no other gods beside me” is that one
should not believe those who say that He has placed the angel of glory
in charge of the world, and would not make images to draw down the
supreme powers.52
The last passage draws a parallel between the perception of the angel
as a mediator and the act of drawing down stellar forces, denoting
the theological meaning of the prohibition.
In his scientific writings, Ibn Ezra does not cast doubt, or at least
does not explicitly question, the actual effectiveness of these techniques.
He recurrently stresses in a scientific treatise that this wisdom “is for-
bidden in God’s Torah because it is as idolatry.”53 This declaration,
ring with a shining stone on which the form of a scorpion had been engraved. I asked
him what was the secret of the seal and how it worked, and he told me… it should be
stamped with ground frankincense while the moon was in Scorpio… and this helped
all those bitten by scorpions, alleviating their pain and healing them. Perhaps this is
what is mentioned in Ptolemy’s book “(Sefer ha-Peri, Paris Ms. 1055, 54a-b).
49 Commentary on Exodus 31:3.
50 These are God’s words. Commentary on Exodus 20:20. See Dov Schwartz and
Eliezer Schlossberg, “Sources of Maimonides’ Concept of Idolatry as Mediation,”

The Annual of Rabbinic Judaism 1 (1998): 119-128.
52 Short commentary on Exodus 20:1.
53 He says so when referring to the yearly cycle of the sun: “You should know
that sages in India said that one fifth of an hour should be added to six full hours
however, does not prevent him from occasionally relating in this work
to the techniques used by “masters of images” or magicians, and from
pointing to sources of influence.54 In his biblical commentaries his state-
ments are more qualified, although astral magic is still contrasted with
“magic,” which is merely sleight of hand.55 The difference between
useless acts of trickery and drawing down the powers is evident in
another exegesis:
Idols [elilim] are graven images, and they are called elilim because they
are false, as in “you are all physicians of no value” [elil] (Job 13:4). It
is also plausible that the word comes from al, meaning something that
lacks reality. “Molten gods” to receive supreme powers, because no
other god is needed beside me.56
The idols are perceived as lacking reality, but making effigies to draw
down stellar forces is forbidden because it violates God’s unity. Con-
trary to the elilim, however, the concept of molten gods is not derived
from al, so that their reality is not explicitly denied. We may therefore
infer that astral magic is forbidden on theological grounds because it
denies God’s unity and not because its actual reality is challenged.
Why does Ibn Ezra hold that making images and drawing down
the supreme force resemble idolatrous acts? What is the line between
for every year, and this is only true for the images. Their sun is necessary only for
those involved in the wisdom of images, which is forbidden in God’s Torah because
it resembles idolatry” (Ben Menahem, Sefer ha-Te#amim, 40).
54 See, for instance, ibid., 6, 30, 31 (concerning the making of effigies from various
metals in order to receive the powers of Venus and the sun: “And brass is in its domain
[of Venus], as attempted by the makers of images”; “And on its domain [the sun’s]
silver rises, as attempted by the masters of images”). Compare Levy and Cantera, Sefer
Reshith Hokhmah, xv. The mention of magic-astral techniques in the scientific writings
while rejecting them on religious grounds in the biblical commentaries apparently
follows from the character of these scientific writings. These texts deal with astrology
and, in this context, refer to related techniques, such as astral magic.
55 Commentary on Exodus 7:11; commentary on Deuteronomy 19:10; commen-
tary on Daniel 2:2. See also Isadore Twersky, “Did R. Abraham Ibn Ezra Influence
Maimonides?” [Hebrew], in Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra: Studies in the Writings of a Twelfth-
Century Jewish Polymath (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1993), 33.
56 Commentary on Leviticus 19:4. Compare to Ibn Ezra on Leviticus 19:31:
“Certain empty-headed people have asserted that Scripture would not have for-
bidden charmers as a form of witchcraft if they were not true. I declare the exact
opposite of their words: Scripture has forbidden only that which is false, but has not
forbidden the truth. This is borne out by the prohibition against idols and graven
images.”
18 chapter one
the prohibition on idolatry and an acceptable magical or talismanic

act? Ibn Ezra does interpret several Torah commandments as acts
that draw down the supreme power, as noted below. The distinction
between idolatry and the permitted magic-astral act, then, does not
necessarily hinge on technique. Stellar forces can be brought down
through an idolatrous ritual worshipping the star, but also through
an act of drawing down spirituality, without any such associations.
The prohibition, then, is theological. The distinction might be in the
consciousness of the person drawing down the spirituality and in the
closeness of this act to idolatry rather than in the use of stellar forces
and its modes. Idolaters view the bringing down of the supreme power
as an imperative requirement of the idolatrous religion or as a mediat-
ing channel to divine worship, whereas the scientist, the doctor, or
the Jew observing the commandments views this as a utilitarian act,
involving material and religious advantages.
The Astral Magic Mystery

The enigma and mystery cloaking Ibn Ezra’s commentary include the
use of stellar powers, as noted above and as discussed below. Why,
then, does he not present astral magic openly? The concealment of
the magic-astral interpretation in Ibn Ezra’s exegesis is due to three
reasons:
1. The similarities between acts of astral magic and idolatry, as clari-
fied in the previous section, apparently compel Ibn Ezra to be
doubly careful in his biblical exegesis.
2. In rationalist medieval literature, different branches of science are
routinely presented as the prerogative of a selected few. Astral
magic is unquestionably a form of “science” for Ibn Ezra, since it is
based on rigorous astronomical knowledge: “For only an individual
who has studied geometry and astronomy [melekhet shamayyim] can
understand.”57
3. The inventiveness of astral magical exegesis probably evoked the
criticism of his contemporaries, as implicit from his comments.58
57Commentary on Exodus 28:6. In reference to the mystery of the ephod and

the breastplate.
58 On the magic-astral interpretation of the Tabernacle and the Temple men-
tioned above, Ibn Ezra writes: “Should God give you wisdom, you will understand
The critique may indeed have focused on the similarities with

idolatry.
It is not hard to understand why Ibn Ezra develops esoteric techniques
to downplay the scope of astral magic in his exegeses of biblical pas-
sages. Although he does not refrain from explicit astral hints in some
places, in others he chooses to conceal the magic-astral foundations
and their ramifications. Ibn Ezra’s esoteric course comes to the fore
in two ways:
1. Refraining from explicit mention of the magic astral act. One instance
is the mystery of the ephod and the breastplate.59 Ibn Ezra does
not allude to the talismanic terminology explicitly, although his
exegesis of this matter cannot be understood without linking it to
astral magic.
2. Ostensible rejection but actual acceptance of magic astral views. In one group
of sources, Ibn Ezra appears to reject the magic astral interpreta-
tion, and in another he presents it as the only possible option.
At times, the contrast emerges within the same source. Several
examples of this esoteric technique are presented below. It is first
applied in his exegesis of the terafim that Rachel steals from her
father:
Some say that the terafim are copper instruments used to tell parts
of hours. Others say that astrologers have the power to make an
image that speaks at specific hours, and offer proof from “for
the terafim have spoken vanity” (Zekharia 10:2). But this is not
the meaning of the aforementioned verse. Closer to mine is the
view that the terafim are human images that were made in order
the secret of the ark, the ark covering, and the cherubim that spread their wings, and
also the secret of the objects placed outside of the curtain—the candelabrum, the
incense altar, and the table—and outside the opening of the tabernacle—the altar
of the burnt offering and all its vessels, and the basin and its base. These objects are
the glory of God [Elohim]. I gave you these hints because there are many people in
our times who think themselves wise, and they will perhaps mock my words” (com-
mentary on Exodus 25:40. The term glory (“the glory of God [Elohim]”) has a clear
astrological context and God is therefore perceived here as “judgment,” hinting
at the wisdom of the “judgments of the stars,” a term used to describe astrology.
Compare Jac. Klatzkin, Thesaurus Philosophicus: Linguae Hebraicae et Veteris et Recentioris
(Berlin: Eschkol, 1928). The use of Elohim for judgment is also reflected in Ibn Ezra’s
explanation of the sin of the golden calf.
59 Compare Rosin, “Die Religionsphilosophie,” 356-358.
20 chapter one
to receive the supreme power. I am not permitted to explain this

any further. Proof that the terafim are human images can be found
in the terafim that Michal, Saul’s daughter, placed in David’s bed,
thereby fooling the guards into thinking that the terafim were really
David… The most likely reason [for Rachel stealing the terafim]
was that Laban, her father, was an astrologer, and Rachel feared
that he would look at the stars and discover which way they had
fled.60
Prima facie, Ibn Ezra rejects two exegeses in this passage. Whereas the
first presents the terafim as an astronomical instrument much like an
astrolabe, the second views them as effigies for drawing down stel-
lar spirituality. Is the second exegesis indeed rejected? Certainly not.
Ibn Ezra restricts the options to the making of images and reduces
them—mainly due to exegetical constraints (Michal’s terafim)—to
one, the human image;61 he fully endorses, however, the magic-
astral principle of the second exegesis. Furthermore: the end of the
passage implies that the first exegesis, quoted in the name of “some
say,” is compatible with the exegesis that Ibn Ezra prefers (“closer
to mine”). Rachel had feared that the terafim could be used to locate
Jacob. Ibn Ezra’s view, then, is clear: (1) The terafim were images in
human form designed to draw down stellar spirituality, as he says
midway through the passage; (2) This view is then toned down by
endorsing another view at the end of the passage, which identifies
the terafim with an astrological instrument capable of disclosing the
hidden (the location of Jacob’s camp). It is not clear whether the terafim
were accompanied by an instrument of observation or whether signs
60 Commentary on Genesis 31:19. On the terafim see Joseph Dan, “Terafim: From
Popular Belief to Folktale,” Scripta Hiersolymitana 27 (1978): 99-106; Daniel Sperber,

Magic and Folklore in Rabbinic Literature (Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University Press, 1994),
115-118.
61 Another possible consideration is that the human image is the preferred and
perhaps the most efficient one of all. In his exegesis, Ibn Ezra interprets the cherubim
in the context of drawing down the supreme power and states: “Man is the most
important being upon the earth, hence the form of the cherubim” (commentary on
Exodus 33:21). Compare Shlomo Pines, “Le Sefer ha-Tamar et les Maggidim des Kab-
balistes,” in Hommage a Georges Vajda: Etudes d'histoire et de pensée juives, ed. Gerard Nahon
and Charles Touati (Louvain: Peeters, 1980), 336, 357; Moshe Idel, Golem: Jewish
Magical and Mystical Traditions on the Artificial Anthropoid [Hebrew] (Tel-Aviv: Schocken,
1996), 267 (appendix on astral magic that does not appear in the original English
version). The interpretation suggested here is already mentioned in Menahem ben-
Moshe Tamar’s supercommentary on Ibn Ezra.
of an astrological map were engraved in the image; what is clear is

that the action of the terafim was based on astrology. Ibn Ezra, then,
accepts the first two exegeses.
A second instance of a mutual contradiction is his exegesis of the sin
of the golden calf. In his long commentary on Exodus, Ibn Ezra rejects
the view stating that “the great conjunction of the two upper bodies
was in the constellation of Taurus.” In his view, “the conjunction took
place in Aquarius. According to the science of astrology, this is Israel’s
constellation, and many have tested this mystery, generation after
generation. I too have seen this to be the case. Look! They placed it
at the sky’s midpoint.” Ibn Ezra has already stated that his intention
is to show that the people of Israel were not idolatrous, and that the
golden calf was intended for the glory of God. How? This enigmatic
passage clarifies his intention:
Moses himself did not know this [when he would descend], for God had
told him: “Come up to me onto the mount and be there until I give
you the tablets of stone.” The word Elohim refers to the glory dwelling
in the image of a body, and what they had said was, “who shall go
before us” (Exodus 32:1). If you pay attention to Israel’s first journey
you will understand this.62
Ibn Ezra returns to Judah Halevi’s approach, whereby the journey
through the desert had been guided by a talisman (the pillar of fire,
the pillar of the cloud, and so forth). The same talismanic element
(“image of a body”) attracted the stellar forces when at their summit
(“glory”) in times that change according to astrological principles.63
When they saw that Moses was not returning, the children of Israel
sought divine guidance by attracting the forces of their sign, Aquarius.
Since Ibn Ezra is apparently rejecting the celestial constellation of
Taurus, the shape of the golden calf has no particular significance
except for being an effigy (“image”) to attract the stellar forces.
By contrast, in his short commentary on Exodus, Ibn Ezra unequivo-
62 These passages are from the commentary on Exodus 31:18.

63 See above, note 58. The term Elohim refers also to legal institutions, and the
“wisdom of judgments” is a synonym for astrology. For an explanation of the sin
of the golden calf according to Ibn Ezra see also Idel, “Hermeticism and Judaism,”
63; Roland Goetschel, “The Sin of the Golden Calf in the Exegesis of Abraham ibn
Ezra,” in Abraham Ibn Ezra and His Age, ed. Fernando Diaz Esteban (Madrid: Asociacion
Española de Orientalistas, 1990), 137-145. This discussion emphasizes the esoteric
techniques of presenting astral magic as an hermeneutical factor.
22 chapter one
cally states: “he who understands the mystery of astronomy [literally,

“craft of the heavens”] will know why the shape was that of a calf.”64
In other words, the form is deliberate and reflects a celestial constella-
tion. We have no reason, then, to reject the interpretation of fourteenth
century commentator Joseph Bonfils (Tov Elem), “and the house of
Venus is in Taurus, and that is why they made the shape of an ox
rather than any other.”65
A third example appears in the exegesis of the brass serpent. In his
commentary on the image of a serpent used to heal victims of serpent
bites, Ibn Ezra states clearly:
“Make thee.” An image of a fiery serpent out of brass… Many err. They
say that this was an image capable of receiving the supreme power.
Far be it, far be it [for one to believe this] for this deed was done by
God’s command. We should not enquire why [Moses was commanded
to make an image of] a snake. Should someone disagree, let him show
us if there is a tree that makes bitter waters sweet. Even honey will not
sweeten them. What reason was there to put a cake of figs upon a boil?
It is not in the nature of figs to remove boils. The truth is that the mind
of the Almighty is beyond us.66
These formulations can hardly be seen as conveying Ibn Ezra’s
authentic stance, unless we assume that he has retracted from his
views in other exegeses. For instance, he refers to the cherubim as
“images,” and it is in this context that he mentions the shape of the
ox mentioned in Ezekiel’s chapters on the chariot.67 It is plausible
to assume that this form alludes to the sign of Taurus. As noted, the
form is made for the purpose of “receiving the supreme power.” Like-
wise, Ibn Ezra writes unambiguously: “Here is a general rule. Each
64 Short commentary on Exodus 32:1. Ibn Ezra cites Saadia Gaon, who states,
“the reason for the form of an ox is that some people in India will think that the
image will receive supreme power, and they thought so about Moses.” He does not
reject this notion outright, and Yehudah Leib Fleischer’s rejection of the astrologi-
cal interpretation ad locum (Mishneh le-Ezra [Vienna: 1926]) is unjustified. The short
commentary was probably written before the long one, so that we have a choice of
two options: either Ibn Ezra retracted his view or he concealed his intention when
commenting on the golden calf.
65 David Herzog, ed., Tsafenat Pa#aneah (Cracow: Fischer, 1912), 295.
66 Commentary on Numbers 21:8.
67 Commentary on Exodus 25:18. In the commentary on Genesis 3:23, Ibn Ezra
explains cherubim as images, and mentions the sin of the golden calf (the form of
the ox).
cherub was made to receive the supreme power.”68 The cherubim

were meant to attract stellar forces. Ibn Ezra also writes elsewhere,
in no uncertain terms:
And I too will teach you the truth. Pay attention to the mystery of the
cherubim—why the ark covering has no height, and why the candela-
brum is on the right and the table on the north and the altar’s cornice
up to its middle, and why no sacrifice must be offered on the altar of
incense. And after you have understood all these, you will understand
the mystery of the brass serpent because, since the glory dwells in the
people of Israel, the holy spirit will rest on their noblemen and they
will prophesy. As long as they maintain the Temple worship, no sword
will pass through their land.69
In order to understand how the brass serpent works its action, then,
one must understand the deep meaning of the Tabernacle’s vessels,
including the cherubim. Ibn Ezra’s interpretation thus implies that
the brass serpent, like the cherubim, was made for the purpose of
absorbing the supreme power. People bitten by serpents were healed
by drawing down the spirituality or the stellar powers onto the image
of the serpent, made of metal. Ibn Ezra derived from here a similar
rule for all the vessels in the Tabernacle (the candelabra, the altar,
and so forth). These vessels are talismans, designed with the aim of
exploiting astral influences (“glory”), and their orderly course wards
off danger to the nation as a whole.
The last example in this context is Balaam’s act. Ibn Ezra cites an
anonymous exegesis explaining Balaam’s behavior according to astral
magic, although his own view is different:
Some say that he [Balaam] had knowledge of the supreme bodies [heav-
enly bodies/stars], and was able to receive their power below through
images, and this is the meaning of “and he whom thou cursest is cursed.”
However, it appears to me that Balaam knew how the signs behaved,
and when he saw in someone’s star that his evil time had come, he
would curse him. When evil befell the one he had cursed, then those
who had seen and heard the imprecation thought that evil had befallen
him because of Balaam’s curse.70
68 Commentary on Exodus 25:40. See also Heinemann, The Reasons for the Com-
mandments in the Tradition, 1:69. On the development of this view in the thought of
Johanan Alemanno, see Moshe Idel, “The Magical and Neoplatonic Interpretations of
the Kabbalah in the Renaissance,” in Jewish Thought in the Sixteenth Century, ed. Bernard
Dov Cooperman (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1983), 202-203.
69 End of the short commentary on Exodus 25:7.
24 chapter one
Ibn Ezra obviously wishes to underplay Balaam’s powers and dismiss

the option that Balaam could have changed the course of nature
through an act of astral magic, since “it is not in the hand of any
creature to change a deed or a decree of God.” Prima facie, Ibn Ezra
also questions, in principle, Balaam’s abilities and his recourse to
astral magic, confining them to astrological knowledge (“knew the
stars”). Balaam’s practice, however, suggests that he had acquired
his knowledge through the use of seven altars:
There are profound mysteries only a few can fathom. The number seven
occurs with regard to days, months, years; the seven lambs offered for a
burnt offering, and the seven sprinklings… When the complete is given
to the complete, a spirit of understanding is reborn.71
In other words, the knowledge was acquired through a technique
almost certainly close to astral magic, as the mention of sacrifices
shows. Here as well, the magic-astral element plays an important role,
although in the previous exegesis he had rejected the magic-astral
interpretation outright.
Ibn Ezra, then, succeeds in presenting a contrast, as it were, and
even a contradiction between these various exegeses, although he clearly
endorses an astrological and magic-astral interpretation of the terafim,
the golden calf, the brass serpent, and Balaam’s act. The authentic
interpretation emerges mostly from a combination and comparison
of several sources.
Expanding the Magic-Astral Exegesis

Ibn Ezra’s exegesis of ordinary worship includes many hints allud-
ing to a potential, and even expected magic-astral context. He had
already formulated a principle: “It is part of God’s worship to preserve
the recipient’s power in accordance with the place.”72 As noted, the
influence of stellar forces changes from place to place. Hence, Ibn
Ezra mentions Jacob’s request from his household that they remove
the effigies (“strange gods”) when entering the Land of Israel. The
magic-astral associations of biblical commandments and events tends
71 Commentary on Numbers 23:1. The enigmatic sentence at the end hints to
an encounter between the perfect number (seven) and the perfect human being, with
the addition of the astral element in the form of the seven planets.
72 Commentary on Deuteronomy 31:16. See also Sirat, A History of Jewish Phi-
losophy in the Middle Ages, l. 11.

to be laconic and is scattered throughout his commentaries on other

issues, such as the psalmist’s plea to laud a “supreme power he had
received,” although he does not suggest how he had received this
power.73 At times, however, the magic-astral context appears in sys-
tematic hermeneutical models. For instance, Ibn Ezra presents several
schemes of the parallel between the commandments and elements
in the celestial world, as in his exegesis of the ten commandments.74
These schemes, then, can be assumed to have some kind of affinity
with astral magic.
Finally, several links to astral magic in Ibn Ezra’s commentary are
outlined briefly below—some could be part of magic-astral outlooks
and some belong to them explicitly.
1. Ransom. Ibn Ezra formulates a principle: “Because the heavenly
decree will not be dismissed unless through ransom, and this is a
great mystery.”75 This “ransom,” which directs the negative stellar
forces to the sacrificed animal,76 explains the need for smearing
the lintel and the doorposts with blood during the Passover in
Egypt.77
73 Commentary on Psalms 22:20.

74 See the commentary on Exodus 20:14. Ibn Ezra also hints at an antinomian
perception, resulting from the adaptation of the commandment to the astrological
configuration. In his view, some Torah prohibitions, such as sexual proscriptions,
are specifically adapted to the Land of Israel because its heavenly ranking cannot
tolerate promiscuity and dissipation. See Dov Schwartz, “The Land of Israel in the
Fourteenth Century Jewish Neoplatonic School” [Hebrew], in The Land of Israel in
Medieval Jewish Thought, ed. Moshe Hallamish and Aviezer Ravitzky (Jerusalem: Yad
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, 1991), 146-150. See also Uriel Simon, “Peshat Exegesis of Biblical
Historiography: Historicism, Dogmatism, and Medievalism"[Hebrew], in Tehillah le-
Moshe: Biblical and Judaic Studies in Honor of Moshe Grinberg, ed. Mordechai Cogan, Barry
L. Eichler and Jeffrey H. Tigay (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1997), 181-195,
particularly 183-189. In note 38 (p. 187), Simon claims that I exaggerate when ascrib-
ing antinomian conclusions to Ibn Ezra. I do not really understand this comment,
since he himself shows at length that several sexual proscriptions were cancelled due
to stellar constellations. This is a distinctively antinomian perspective.
75 Short commentary on Exodus 12:7.
76 “Since each portion is given in its due time, the portion that is the share in
the world to come will escape unharmed. Hence, he interpreted “to atone” [lekhaper,
from the root kh-p-r] as “to ransom” [to give kofer, from the same root]” (commen-
tary on Leviticus 1:1). See also Ibn Ezra, commentary on Leviticus 1:4; Langerman
“Some Astrological Themes,” 35-36. Several magic-astral associations are discussed
in depth in this article.
77 Commentary on Exodus 12:7. On ransom in general see Ron Barkai, Science, Magic,
and Mythology in the Middle Ages [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Van Leer, 1987), 21-22.
26 chapter one
2. The Tabernacle and the Temple. As noted, Ibn Ezra intimates that
the Tabernacle and its vessels function as talismans to draw down
spirituality.78
3. Sacrifices. The function of the sacrifice as a catalyst or a hindrance
to the action of stellar forces is already intimated concerning the
sacrifices before the giving of the Torah.79
4. Festivals. The time of the festivals is determined according to
astrological constellations, and we can hardly assume that Ibn
Ezra disregards the magical and theurgic significance of these
calculations.80
5. The Order of the Tribes’ March through the Desert. The correspondence
between the order of the tribes and a defined stellar order81 inti-
mates a link with the absorption of stellar influence.
Note that an entire group of fourteenth-century thinkers writing super-
commentaries on Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Torah develop and
formulate at length the idea of drawing down spirituality, showing
knowledge of Hermetic sources. It remains questionable, however,
whether these thinkers indeed understood Ibn Ezra’s intention, at
least concerning his positive perception of an astral magic that is not
founded on the laws of the Torah. The present review indicates that
Ibn Ezra thinks it is possible to draw down spirituality on images (at
least by acquiring astrological knowledge, as evident from his reading
of Balaam’s technique), but he rejects such deeds on religious grounds.
By contrast, he holds that the Torah presents alternative modes for
drawing down spirituality, which are in fact commanded and have
proved effective. Ibn Ezra’s approach, then, is not fundamentally dif-
ferent from that of Judah Halevi. On one count, however, the two
thinkers who introduced the Hermetic tradition into Judaism do differ:
Judah Halevi holds that only the Torah offers a suitable and efficient
way of bringing down spirituality, while Ibn Ezra does not deny the
potential for an effective way of doing this outside Judaism. Although
he forbids it, he seldom entertains doubts about its effectiveness.
78
See above, pp. 22-24.
79
Commentary on Genesis 8:21.
80 See Ibn Ezra’s commentary on Leviticus 23:24. See also Langerman, “Some
Astrological Themes,” 38-39; Idel, Golem, 259. For hermeneutical texts from the
fourteenth century on Ibn Ezra’s configuration of the festivals see Dov Schwartz,
“R. Abraham Al-Tabib: The Man and His Oeuvre” [Hebrew], Kiryat Sefer 64 (1992-
1993): 1397-1400.
magic, experiential science, and scientific method 27
CHAPTER TWO
MAGIC, EXPERIENTIAL SCIENCE,

AND SCIENTIFIC METHOD IN MAIMONIDES
Maimonides’ negative attitude to magic is mentioned or dis-

cussed directly or in passing in numerous studies, but a comprehen-
sive analysis is as yet lacking. Maimonidean scholarship has con-
sidered his attitude to the issue of divine names, his definition of
astrology and magic as idolatrous, his exclusion of medical prac-
tices from the realm of magic, and his contrasting of medicine as a sci-
ence with magic as useless, as well as his linking of magic with women.1
These scholars view Maimonides’ opposition both to the reality of
magic and to its religious legitimacy as consistent, unequivocal, and
uncompromising. Yet, I believe is still necessary to elaborate on
Maimonides’ attitude to different forms of magic, as well as to place
this attitude in the context of his overall philosophical views. In the
present discussion, I will offer the following theses:
1. Maimonides distinguished among various levels of magic: specifi-
cally, between “primitive” or “folk” magic and “learned” magic. He
considered it a special challenge to divest “learned” magic of the
cloak of a “pseudo-science” and to demonstrate its falsehood.
2. Maimonides distinguished, on both substantive and halakhic
1 See, for instance, Lynn Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, vol. 2
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1964), 205-213; Harry S. Lewis, “Maimonides
on Superstition,” Jewish Quarterly Review, o. s., 17 (1905): 474-488; Leon Nemoy,
“Maimonides’ Opposition to Magic in Light of the Writings of Jacob al-Qirqisani”
[Hebrew], Ha-Rofe ha-Ivri 27, 1-2 (1954): 102-109. See also Yitzhak Heinemann, The
Reasons for the Commandments in the Tradition [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: WZO, 1966), 91-92;
Isadore Twersky, Introduction to the Code of Maimonides (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1980) 479-484; idem, “Halakhah and Science: Perspectives on the Epistemology
of Maimonides” [Hebrew], Annual of Jewish Law 14-15 (1988-89): 135-140; Bezalel
Safran, “Maimonides’ Attitude to Magic and to Related Types of Thinking,” in
Porat Yosef: Studies Presented to Rabbi Dr. Joseph Safran, ed. Bezalel Safran and Eliyahu
Safran (Hoboken, N.J.: Ktav, 1992), 93-110. On Maimonides’ attitude to astrology,
see Yitzhak Tzvi Langermann, “Maimonides’ Repudiation of Astrology,” Maimonidean
Studies 2 (1991): 123-158; Hayyim Kreisel, “Maimonides’ Approach to Astrology”
[Hebrew], Proceedings of the Eleventh World Congress of Judaic Studies, Division 2, section
C (Jerusalem: World Union of Jewish Studies: 1994), 25-32.
28 chapter two
grounds, between two areas potentially related to magic: astral

magic and the doctrine of segullot (special properties) based upon
experiential science. This distinction was based upon Maimonides’
scientific method and upon his concept of nature.
3. These distinctions were not clear to Maimonides’ medieval critics,
such as Solomon b. Adret (Rashba), who therefore raised ques-
tions and expressed astonishment in a famous responsum on the
subject.
In the course of discussing these theses, I will attempt to clarify Mai-
monides’ ambiguous language concerning magic, a difficulty that had
already troubled Rashba in the mentioned responsum.
Following the discussion of these three theses, I will examine the
reception of Maimonides’ critical approach among fourteenth century
Jewish philosophers. While some philosophers accepted his critique
and rejected magic outright, others tried to harmonize his approach
with their own world view, even “proving,” so they believed, that
astral magic was not subject to Maimonides’ strictures.
The Foundations of the Maimonidean Controversy
Two Kinds of Magic

In both his halakhic writings and in the Guide of the Perplexed, Mai-
monides mentions various forms of magic: divination, necromancy,
black magic, and so forth. Moreover, he frankly admits that he acquired
his familiarity with the various forms of magic from reading the most
authoritative theoretical sources.2 But Maimonides does not perceive
2 In his epistle on astrology, Maimonides writes as follows: “And I also read all
the matters of idolatry; it seems to me that there is not a single work in the world
concerning this matter translated into the Arabic language from other languages
whose subject matter I have not read and understood and penetrated completely”
(quoted in Alexander Marx, “The Correspondence Between the Rabbis of Southern
France and Maimonides About Astrology,” HUCA 3 [1926]: 351). In the second
section of this chapter we will see that, at the end of Guide of the Perplexed, 3.29, Mai-
monides mentions these sources in greater detail, referring particularly to writings on
Hermetic talismanic magic. See Thorndike, A History of Magic, vol. 2, 211, 214-228.
Maimonides’ frankness is extremely interesting in light of his explicit remarks in the
Code, Laws of Idolatry 2:2: “Many books have been written by the pagans concern-
ing their worship, the essence of their worship and its acts and laws, and the Holy
One blessed be He commanded us not to read any of these books at all.” This issue
these forms of magic in isolation. In his view, the various forms of

magic that he discusses, rather than independent disciplines, are inter-
twined with astrological considerations. In other words: Maimonides
sees astral magic alone as his challenge and the object of his discus-
sion. He writes in the Guide of the Perplexed:
In all magical operations it is indispensable that the stars should be
observed. I mean, they [magicians] deem that a certain plant should
be assigned to the portion of a certain star; similarly they assign every
animal and every mineral to a star. They likewise deem that the opera-
tions performed by the magicians are various species of worship offered
to a certain star, which, being pleased with that operation or speech or
fumigation, does for us what we wish.3
Maimonides’ vehement opposition to astral magic, which is firmly
rooted in religious law, is strongly reminiscent of the official condem-
nation of such activity voiced in several church edicts in the early
Middle Ages.4
Maimonides, however, does not discuss magic as one homogenous
unit. In Guide 3:37, he divides those forms of magic whose validity he
denies into three separate groups: (1) practices deriving from the use
thus reveals something of Maimonides’ ideals of leadership, as well as the difference

between the ethos of a leader and that of the masses. See Lewis, “Maimonides on
Superstition,” 479.
3 Guide 3:37 [542]; all quotations hereafter (page numbers indicated in square
brackets) are from the English translation, The Guide of the Perplexed, trans. Shlomo
Pines (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963). When Maimonides describes the
customs of the “Sabians” in regard to “one who practices divination, a soothsayer,
or an augur, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a medium, or a wizard, or a necroman-
cer” (Deuteronomy 18:11), he first places all of them in an astrological context: “In
conformity with these opinions, the Sabians set up statues for the planets, golden
statues for the sun and silver ones for the moon, and distributed the minerals and
the climes between the planets, saying that one particular planet was the deity of
one particular clime” (Guide 3.29 [516]). In The Book of the Commandments, Maimonides
compares magic to astrology: “This is where the masses of men are in error. When
some of the predictions come true, they think that these practices really reveal the
future; and they persist in this error, until they come to believe that some of these
practices are the cause of the events which follow, just as astrologers are wont to
think. The art of astrology is, indeed, akin to this [practice of divination] in that
both are means of stimulating the faculty of imagination.” The Commandments: Sefer
ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides, trans. Charles B. Chavel (London and New York: Soncino
Press, 1967), Negative Commandment 31, 2:30 (with modifications). Maimonides’
consistent opposition to magic was thus an outcome of his attitude to astrology.
4 See Valerie I. J. Flint, The Rise of Magic in Early Medieval Europe (Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press, 1991), 92-99.

30 chapter two
of powers inherent in existing objects, inanimate or animate; (2) the

performance of these practices at certain prescribed times (“by deter-
mination of the time”; (3) practices deriving from the use of powers
inherent in human actions, such as the burning of incense.
Further to these distinctions, Maimonides divides magical practices
into two categories: (1) those that possess all three of the above-men-
tioned characteristics; (2) those based on only one characteristic out
of the three. Is this distinction purely formal, or is there some quali-
tative difference between the two categories? Maimonides does seem
to draw a qualitative distinction between the two, as he associates
those practices based on only one characteristic with women, whom
he holds in contempt and considers as possessing limited intellectual
capacity, while practices based on all three characteristics are not
limited in that regard.5
Let us now examine Maimonides’ description of a magical practice
that includes all three characteristics:
5 “With regard to most of these magical practices, they pose the condition that
those who perform them should necessarily be women… And they recount many
such fables and ravings. And you will never find them posing some condition other
than that they should be performed by women” (Guide, 3:37 [541-42]). The examples
given by Maimonides illustrate one characteristic only, namely, the star (sun), and
not determination of the time. It is clear from this why Maimonides, explaining in
this chapter the cult of passing one’s son and daughter through fire, emphasizes
that women have “feeble intellects.” Maimonides uses the term #aql (D§ladt al-h§’irÊn,
ed. Solomon Munk and Isachar Yoel [Jerusalem: Azriel, 1931], 400, l. 14), which
indicates cognition in its fullest sense, through the abstraction of form. See Abraham
Nuriel, “Remarks on Maimonides’ Epistemology,” in Maimonides and Philosophy, ed.
Shlomo Pines and Yirmiyahu Yovel (Dordrecht: Martin Nijhoff Publishers, 1986),
38-40. If we apply the rule formulated by Maimonides, that magical actions are
rooted in astral phenomena, the ritual of passing children through fire serves the
function of appeasing the stars’ wrath by offering a “ransom,” but it lacks the specific
characteristics of bringing down spirituality, which requires intellectual knowledge,
as will be noted below. Incidentally, the systematic association of magic with women
appears in Sefer ha-Tamar, attributed to Abu Aflah. In a special chapter devoted to the
issue, he explains that since women are lacking in intellect, their material disposition
(that is, presumably, their imagination) is affected by the actions of magic; in males,
however, the intellect and its powers do not allow for such a disposition. The reason
for women’s success in magic is described as follows: “And all this is due to their
inferior discrimination in the science of being [mezi’ut, meaning nature] and their
inclination toward weakness of the intellect [evidently, in the missing source: ‘aql]
and the weakness of the arguments” (Gershom Scholem, Sefer HaTamar: Das Buch von
der Palme des Abu Aflah aus Syracus [Hannover: Heinz Lafaire, 1927], 29; idem, “Sefer
ha-Tamar by Abu Aflah,” 200, ll. 4-5. See also 197, l. 13; 198, l. 19, and so forth
See also Pines, “Le Sefer Ha-Tamar et les Maggidim des Kabbalistes,” 337.
For instance they [the magicians] say: This or that quantity of the leaves
of a certain plant shall be taken while the moon is under a certain sign
of the Zodiac in the East or in one of the other cardinal points; also a
definite quantity shall be taken from the horns or the excrement or the
hair or the blood of a certain animal while the sun is, for example, in
the middle of the sky or at some other determined place; furthermore,
a certain mineral or several minerals shall be taken and cast while a
certain sign is in the ascendant and the stars in a certain position; then
you shall speak and say these and these things and shall fumigate the cast-metal
form with these leaves and similar things—whereupon a certain thing
will come about.6
The words tatakallamu wataqålu kadha,7 translated here in the second
person masculine, “you shall speak and say these and these things,”
seem to refer to the magician. It seems more likely, however, that
they should be understood in the third person feminine, thus refer-
ring to the astral form itself, which breaks into speech and reveals
various secrets. Given this reading, the emphasis upon the second
person at the beginning of the subordinate clause (wa’anta tubakhkhiru
bitilka al‘awr§q) is readily understood as describing the action of the
magician while the form is speaking. In other words: the magical
practice consists in preparing some kind of image or form at the
time of a specific astral configuration. Induced by incense, the astral
form answers questions (mas§’il), suggests a suitable time for action
(‘ikhtiy§r§t), predicts the future, and even helps to bring about the
realization of its own predictions.
Such efforts to bring down spirituality (ruh§niyy§t) emerge not as
6 Guide 3:37[541]. Compare Maimonides’ remarks in his Commentary to the Mishnah,

Avodah Zarah 3:1: “People of this type think that when the sun is in a certain degree
among the degrees of the Zodiac, whatever it may be, they make a ‘talisman’ for
that sign, similar to the form which they attribute to that degree, and that there will
be revealed to them in reality powers belonging to that same image and the actions
attributed to it; and they burn incense to that same ‘talisman’ and pray to it and
praise it whenever the sun enters that particular degree, and all this is one of the
species of ‘talismans.’” (Commentary to the Mishnah, ed. Yosef David Qafih [Jerusalem:
Mosad Harav Kook, 1965], 349).
7 Cited according to Dal§lat al-h§’irÊn, ed. Munk-Joel, 396, l. 18. See Pines’
quotation from SuhrawardÊ in “Le Sefer Ha-Tamar,” 358, concerning the hearing of
a voice. The literature of astral magic frequently describes ceremonies in which an
image is formed of a person, to whom the magician addresses questions and requests,
actually speaking to the image. See, for instance, Picatrix, Ms. München 214, 85a,
86a, and so forth. It was in light of these traditions that fourteenth century literature
interpreted the terafim.
32 chapter two
popular practice but as the domain of learned astrologers,8 who knew

how to direct their intentions to a specific astral configuration and were
well versed in the metallurgical characteristics of different minerals
and metals. It is thus clear why Maimonides specifically attributed
the second category of sorcery to popular magic, linking it specifically
with women. Moreover, an examination of Maimonides’ commentary
to Avodah Zarah (in his Commentary to the Mishnah) reveals that he does
not discuss popular forms of magic but expends most of his energy
and reasoning in refuting the induction of spirituality by talismanic
means. The distinction between the two kinds of magic is likewise
implied in Maimonides’ commentary to Tractate Hullin, where he
draws a distinction between two types of idolater:
One consists of those who are well versed in idolatrous practice—that

is, the calculation of the sign that is in the ascendant at the time of the
[idolatrous] act, and the bringing down of spirituality by it, and all the
other delusions and foolish things that soil the intellect and are imagined
by those of this type. And the second type are those who worship those
man-made images as they have learned to do, without any knowledge of
8 Needless to say, Maimonides had considerable respect for astronomy—the
basis of professional astrology—as follows from his epistle on astrology. See Leo
Strauss, “Note on Maimonides’ Letter on Astrology,” in Studies in Platonic Political
Philosophy (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1983), 206. Moreover: Maimonides
conceded that astrologers, magicians, and stargazers possessed a certain knowledge
of the future, in a limited, statistical manner. This view is implied by his comparison
of them to prophets, whose knowledge of the future is not cumulative, but absolute
and perfect. Hence, the more learned the astrologer, the greater the probability
that he will foresee a considerable part of the events of the future. See Maimonides,
Commentary to the Mishnah, Introduction, and Code, Laws of the Foundations of the
Torah 10:3. Note, however, that in Sefer ha-Mitzvoth Maimonides attributes the use of
amulets to women: “You must know that this practice… men bedecking themselves
with women’s adornments—…is sometimes [adopted] for purposes of idol-worship,
as is explained in the books devoted to that subject. It is also a common practice to
stipulate, in connection with the making of certain talismans, that if the maker is a
man, he should wear woman’s apparel and adorn himself with gold, pearls, and the
like, and if the maker is a woman, she should wear armour and gird on weapons.
This is well known to those who are expert in this matter.” The Commandments: Sefer
ha-Mitzvoth. Negative commandment 40, 2:39. But this kind of magical practice
lacks the condition of the precise astral configuration. In addition, the woman here
is not necessarily the initiator of the magical act but rather its instrument or basis.
Talismanic magic is hardly mentioned at all in The Book of the Commandments, with the
exception of the above passage. We might also mention that women (especially older
women) were perceived in magic literature too as the bearers of distorted magical-
astral traditions; see, e.g., Pines, “Le Sefer Ha-Tamar,” 337, 338.
how they were made or for what purpose they were made, except for the
stories of their sages alone— and such are the majority of idolaters.9
While the first type involves bringing down the spiritual powers of
the stars at a time determined by the astral configuration, the second
is restricted to worship of the image without any astrological motiva-
tion, as is typical of the unlearned masses. Indeed, only the first type
is at all related to the intellect, which is therefore contaminated by
involvement with it. The second type has no intellectual aspect. Hence,
Maimonides states further on that this type is not true idolatry, for
those who practice it “are [merely] maintaining the custom of their
ancestors”; the intellectual and halakhic challenge is thus primarily
to discount the former type. It follows that Maimonides’ distinction
between the two types of magic is deliberate and reasoned. In other
words, there are good grounds for the thesis that Maimonides drew a
distinction between magic based upon detailed, meticulous astrological
calculations, on the one hand, and the popular magic of the igno-
rant masses, on the other; between “learned” magic and “primitive
magic.”10 While he was undoubtedly concerned to reject and refute
both types, which the masses held in considerable respect, he saw
his major intellectual and polemical challenge in contending with the
former category of astral magic, which is based upon knowledge.
What were the sources of Maimonides’ information about the bring-
ing down of spirituality? This question is highly relevant in regard to
Maimonides, who, in contrast to his predecessors, took the trouble (in
Guide 3.29) to disclose his sources at some length. These include Eastern
sources,11 Hermetic sources,12 and Sabian sources from Mesopotamia,
9 Maimonides, Commentary to the Mishnah, Hullin 1:1. See Yosef ha-Levi Faur,
Studies on Maimonides’ Code (The Book of Knowledge) [Hebrew] (Jerusalem, Mosad Harav
Kook, 1978), 228-229. On ruh§niyy§t (spirituality) in Muslim and Jewish magic, see
Shlomo Pines, “On the Term Ruhanyiut and Its Source, and on the Teaching of
Judah Halevi” [Hebrew], Tarbiz 57 (1988): 511-534. Moshe Idel, “Perceptions of the
Kabbalah in the Second Half of the Eighteenth Century,” Journal of Jewish Thought
and Philosophy 1 (1991): 83-104.
10 In this respect, Maimonides differs from Nahmanides, who, for example, includes
the various kinds of magic in one group. See Nahmanides, Commentary on the Torah,
trans. Charles B. Chavell (New York: Shiloh Publishing House, 1973), Leviticus 16:
8; Deuteronomy 18:9. See Jose Faur, In the Shadow of History (Albany: SUNY Press,
1992), 1314; idem, “Two Forms of Jewish Spirituality,” Shofar 3 (1992): 5-46; Yitzhak
Tzvi Langermann, “Acceptance and Devaluation: Nahmanides’ Attitude towards
Science,” Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 1 (1992): 223-245.
11 Maimonides mentions, for instance, “the book of Tumtum,” which also includes
34 chapter two
particularly The Book of Nabatean Agriculture by Ibn Wahshiyya, which

includes “the actions of talismans, practices with a view to causing
spirits to descend, demons, and ghouls living in deserts.”13 This work
matters of talismanic magic. This is a work of Hermetic character, and the following
tradition concerning the reason of the sacrifices is cited in its name in Guide 3:46
[582]: “Not as is the case in the cults of the idolaters who sacrifice lions, bears, and
other wild animals, as is mentioned in the book of Tumtum.” A similar tradition is
mentioned regarding the reason for the red heifer, which was taken in substitution
for the red lion as related in the books of the “idolaters,” in order to avert the danger
involved in hunting lions. This tradition appears at the beginning of the fourteenth
century in the writings of David Ibn Bilia (see Dov Schwartz, “Epigrams (Siyyurin) of
R. David Ibn Bilia” [Hebrew], Kiryat Sefer 63 (1990-1991): 641. Likewise, it appears
in the teachings of the rationalists of Provence in the fourteenth and early fifteenth
centuries, and in the following sources: (1) a letter of Kalonymus b. Kalonymus to
Joseph Ibn Kaspi (Kalonymos ben Kalonymos Sendscrhreiben an Joseph Kaspi, ed. Joseph
Perles [München: T. Ackermann, 1879], 6). (2) Jacob Farissol’s commentary to The
Kuzari: “And this is the very reason for the divine commandment concerning the
red heifer, even if R. Moses [Maimonides] did not explain it thus in the reasons for
the commandments in the Guide of the Perplexed. And the reason is the following, as is
found in the books of India: that at a certain time of year they would take a red lion,
which they would burn, and whoever was involved with it would become unclean,
and with its ashes they would purify the impure and the menstruant women, which
is the gravest impurity for them” (Bet Ya‘akov, MS. Berlin 124 [Ms. Or. Qu. 653],
52a). This passage also appears in another work from the circle of Farissol, Hesheq
Shlomo by Shlomo b. Judah of Lunel, Ms. Oxford-Bodleian 2383, 65a, and the inter-
pretation is described there as “the true reason”. The text of Ibn Bilia, Kalonymus
ben Kalonymus, Farissol, and Shlomo ben Judah is parallel to a well-known text
concerning the primordial Enoch, or Hermes. See Moshe Idel, “The Magical and
Neoplatonic Interpretation of the Kabbalah in the Renaissance,” in Jewish Thought
in the Sixteenth Century, ed. Bernard Dov Cooperman (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 1983), 203-205. Maimonides, then, was familiar with the “book of
Tumtum,” which shows clear Hermetic tendencies. The work is also mentioned in
the Muqaddima of Ibn Khaldūn as a work by “Timtim the Indian” concerning “the
figures of the Zodiac and the stars” (Muqaddima, VI.27). This work, to the best of my
knowledge, has not yet been translated into Hebrew. For a bibliography of this book,
see Moritz Steinschneider, Zur Pseudepigraphischen Literatur des Mittelalters insbesondere der
geheimen Wissenschaften aus hebraischen und arabischen Quellen (Amsterdam: Philo Press,
1965) 83; Franz Rosenthal, trans. and ed. The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History,
vol. 3 (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1967), 156, n. 748.
12 For example, Maimonides mentions, without elaborating further, “a book
attributed to Hermes.” On Ibn Ezra’s references to Hermetic literature see Shlomo

Sela, Abraham Ibn Ezra and the Rise of Medieval Hebrew Science (Leiden: Brill, 2003),
184-185. Maimonides also mentions a book by al-Ustum§khus, attributed elsewhere
to Aristotle, as in the chronicles of Jirjis al-Makin composed around 1260, and in
al-Majriti, Picatrix von Pseudo-Magriti: Das Ziel des Wiesen, vol. 3, trans. Hellmut Ritter
and Martin Plessner (London: Warburg Institute, 1962), ch. 6. See also Pines, “Le
Sefer Ha-Tamar,” 336.
13 Guide, 3:37. For a list of manuscripts of Ibn Wahshiyya, The Book of Nabatean
reflects typical Sabian views, such as the astrological characteristics of

the stars,14 the spirituality they emanate, and the magical possibilities
for assimilating such spirituality.15 In this respect, Ibn Wahshiyya’s work
presents typically Hermetic elements, such as a detailed description of
the cult of effigies and images of the planet Saturn.16
Other authors of this circle who were active during the ninth and
tenth centuries and whose writings are likely to have been known to
Maimonides include Abu Mashar, who established a link between
Hermetic tradition and Babylonian doctrines,17 Th§bit ibn Qurra,
and possibly also Ibn al-H§tim.18 All of these to one degree or another
accepted the magic and Hermetic views of the Sabians, and Mai-
monides’ description cited above, of how to bring spirituality down
to an effigy at a given time and astral configuration conforms to their
doctrines. Maimonides may also have been familiar with the Sabian
material underlying the “Epistles of the Brethren of Purity,” which
are replete with similar descriptions.19 A typical description of this
kind from Muslim magical literature is the following prescription for
the preparation of talismans to induce spirituality:
One who wishes to bring down the spirituality of a star, first has to
know the nature of that star whose spirituality he wishes to draw down
and the house of its degree, and he must prepare himself by wearing
a special garment, and with special food and fragrance. Thereafter he
Agriculture, see Daniil Avraamovich Khvolson, Über die Überreste der altbabylonischen Literatur
in arabischen Übersetzungen (St. Petersburg: Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften,
1859, rep. Amsterdam 1968) viii, 2, 505. For a description of the contents of the
book, see 440-446. A facsimile edition of the work was published by F. Sezgin in
Frankfort am Mein, 1984.
14 On talismanic magic, see Khvolson, Über die Überreste, 442-443. On these concepts
in Nabatean literature in general, see Daniil Avraamovitch Khvolson, Die Ssabier und
der Ssabismus, vol. 2 (St. Petersburg: Buchdruckerei der Kaiserlichen Akademie der
Wissenschaften, 1856), 30 et passim; Jan Hjaerpe, Analyse critique des traditions arabes
sur les sabéens harraniens (Uppsala: Skriv Service, 1972); Michel Tardieu, “Sabiens
Coraniques et ‘Sabiens’ de Harran,” Journal Asiatique 274 (1986): 1-44.
15 See Khvolson, Über die Überreste, 732-734. See al-Shahrastani, Kit§b al-Milal
wa’l-nihal (Cairo: 1948), 117.

16 Khvolson, Über die Überreste, 443.
17 See David Pingree, The Thousands of Abu Mashar (London: University of London,
1968), 17-18.
18 See Kristen Lippincott and David Pingree, “Ibn Al-H§tim on the Talismans of
the Lunar Mansion,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 50 (1987): 57-81.
19 See Henry Corbin, “Rituel sabéen et exégèse ismaelienne du rituel,” Eranos
Jahrbuch 19 (1950): 181-246; Yves Marquet, “Sabéens et Ihwan Al-Safa,” Studia Islamica
24 (1966): 35-80; 25 (1967): 35-80; Pines, “On the Term Råhanyyi§t,” 515-518.
36 chapter two
must wait and direct himself [to the time that] the star that is the object
of his action enters the Zodiac, and that it be directly [in his line of
vision] and not blocked by the line of any other star opposite to it in
nature. Thereafter he must know what minerals are under the sign of
that star, and then he shall make a latticed brazier, whose lower part
should be hollow and its upper part open to the atmosphere, and its
lower part is divided [so that] it stands upon two legs. Then you shall
mount it upon two legs and arouse what is desired of spirituality, as
much as you desire… And when you wish to bring down any creature
you wish, you must know which star rules it and its day of birth, and
make its image in stone under the sign of that same star and at its time,
and take care lest there be parallel to it a star opposite in nature from
that star or with it in the same constellation.20
According to Khvolson’s studies of the Book of Nabatean Agriculture,
Ibn Wahshiyya did not distinguish between different kinds of magic
on the basis of their intellectual value. The same holds true for the
other classic and Muslim magic sources that Maimonides might have
used. For instance, a careful examination of the fifty-second epistle of
the “Brethren of Purity,” which deals with sorcery, reveals no clear
distinction between bringing down spirituality in a definite astral
configuration and other, non-astral, forms of magic. Maimonides,
however, did postulate such a distinction between precise, calculated
astral magic, such as the bringing down of spirituality, and “ordinary”
sorcery. In this respect, his view corresponds to that of such works
as Picatrix..
Can Maimonides’ explicit distinction between these two types of
magic be traced in later medieval Jewish thought as well? In the late
thirteenth century, when almost all Jewish philosophical activity in
Spain took place in a Christian environment, several Jewish rationalist
thinkers rejected popular forms of magic, such as practical Kabbalah,
while also accepting astral magic as a real science.21 This development
may be exemplified by a description—in positive terms—of magic
20 Picatrix, Ms. München 214, 61a. On traditions from Ibn Wahshiyya, Book of
Nabatean Agriculture, see, for instance, 90b-91a.

21 One, such instance, is Shem Tov Ibn Shaprut and his circle. See Norman E.
Frimer and Dov Schwartz, The Life and Thought of Shem Tov ibn Shaprut [Hebrew](Jerusalem:
Yad Yitzhak Ben Zvi and the Hebrew University, 1992), 56-166. Ibn Shaprut’s atti-
tude toward the popular belief in demons is characteristic: while completely rejecting
this belief in itself, he is prepared to recognize it within an astrological framework,
according to which the demons are spiritual powers drawn down from the stars.
See also ch. 4 below.
activity similar to that portrayed by Maimonides, indeed involving all

three of his characteristics. This description appears in a well-known
text from a totally different cultural background, cited by Samuel Ibn
Zarza in the name of David ibn Bilia, in which the terafim are described
as a form of bringing down spiritual forces.22 The text, written at the
beginning of the fourteenth century in Portugal, describes terafim as an
instrument for the induction of pneumatic powers, clearly reflecting
the cult described above.
In sum: the first category of magic as defined by Maimonides in
Guide 3.37, that is, magical practices that call simultaneously upon
the factors of time, place, and astral influence, alludes to the bringing
down of spiritual forces by a talismanic intermediary. In the debate
over philosophy that erupted at the end of the thirteenth century and
culminated in the ban imposed by Rashba and his court, the rational-
ists were indeed characterized by intense involvement with magic of
the former type, while popular magic (oaths, demons, and the like)
was completely rejected by these same intellectual circles.
A Hidden Polemic?
Maimonides’ critique of astrology is aimed at a number of targets.23
In addition, his descriptions of talismanic magic seem basically to fit
Abraham ibn Ezra’s astral-magical exegesis of the concept of terafim.
According to this exegesis, terafim are images intended to bring down
22 Cited in Samuel Ibn Zarza, Meqor Hayyim (Mantua, 559), 121b-c. See Nehemiah
Aloni, “David Ibn Bilia and His Works” [Hebrew], Areshet (1944): 382. For a similar
description from a text that evidently belongs to the same circle, see Moshe Idel,
“An Astral-Magical Pneumatic Anthropoid,” Incognita 2 (1991): 12-14. Incidentally,
the burning of incense does not figure in this text. Burning incense was a common
technique in early and later works of astrology and magic, both Muslim and Christian.
Following are several examples: Sefer ha-Razim, ed. Mordechai Margalyot (Jerusalem:
American Academy of Jewish Sciences, 1967) 97; Mafteah Shlomo (facsimile), ed. Her-
mann Gollancz (Jerusalem: n.p., 1970) 15a-b; Sefer ha-Levanah, cited in Nahmanides,
Commentary to the Torah, Deuteronomy 18:9, ed. H. D. Chavel, vol. 2 (Jerusalem:
Mosad Harav Kook, 1960), 427, and in Rabbenu Bahya, Commentary to the Torah, ad
loc.. Selected passages appear in Fabrizio Lelli, “Le Version Ebraiche di un Testo
Ermetico: Il Sefer Ha-Levanah,” Henoch 12 (1990): 159-161. The full text of Sefer
ha-Levanah was first published by Albert W. Greenup (London, 1912).
23 Such as, for instance, the responsum of Abraham bar Hiyya regarding “inquiries
of the Chaldean [oracles].” See the discussion by Marx, “Correspondence between the
Rabbis of Southern France and Maimonides.” See also Israel Efros, Medieval Jewish
Philosophy: Terms and Concepts [Hebrew] (Tel-Aviv: Dvir, 1969) 153, and Schwartz,
Astral Magic, 24-25.
38 chapter two
the spirituality of the stars on the basis of meticulous astrological

calculations. In Ibn Ezra’s own words: “What seems most likely to
me is that the terafim are made in the image of human beings, and
are meant to receive a heavenly power.”24
It is not inconceivable that Maimonides’ firm condemnation of the
act of bringing down spiritual forces (of the first category) as tantamount
to idolatry was made in the context of a concealed polemic against
Ibn Ezra. If Maimonides was indeed familiar with the writings of that
enigmatic scholar, including his explicitly astral-magical exegesis, he
could hardly have ignored his prestige as scientist and astronomer;
in that case, it may well have been Ibn Ezra’s views in this area that
aroused Maimonides’ vehement opposition. This would explain the
object of Maimonides’ criticism in his Commentary to the Mishnah:
You must know that the perfect philosophers do not believe in talis-
mans but deride them and those who believe in their influence, and
the explanation of this matter would be lengthy. But I have said this
because I know that most people, and perhaps all, are greatly tempted
by them and believe in many such things of that kind, and think that
they are true things, but this is not so. And even good and pious men
of our Torah think that these things are true, but that they are forbid-
den because of [the prohibition of] the Torah alone. And they do not
know that these are empty and false things, against which the Torah
has warned us just as it has warned us against falsehood.25
What does Maimonides mean here by the “perfect” philosophers?
And how do they know that there is no truth in talismanic magic?
The Arabic al-kam§l, translated here as “perfection,” refers not only
to the philosophers’ accomplishments, but also to the comprehensive
scope of their knowledge, that is, to their mastery of different disci-
plines, including astronomy. Although there were not many medieval
philosophers proficient in astronomy, Maimonides is postulating that
scholars striving for intellectual perfection should also study astronomy
and he himself, of course, set a personal example in this respect.26
24 Ibn Ezra’s commentary to Genesis 31:19; Idel, “Hermeticism and Judaism,”
62-64. On magical exegesis in the school influenced by Ibn Ezra’s writings, which
developed during the second half of the fourteenth century, see Dov Schwartz, “Various
Forms of Magic in Fourteenth Century Spanish Jewish Thought” [Hebrew], PAAJR
57 (1991): 17-47, esp. 24-25; and see idem, Astral Magic, 62-91.
25 Maimonides, Commentary to the Mishnah, Avodah Zarah 4.7.
26 Langermann, “Maimonides’ Repudiation,” 132-133, 140-141, points out that
Maimonides may be implying that philosophers who are expert not

only in the realm of astronomy but also in the natural sciences know
there is no truth in astral magic. Indeed, according to the laws of phys-
ics, all processes that take place in the material world are based upon
causality: “Aristotle demonstrates regarding all natural things that they
do not come about by chance.”27 Since magical phenomena cannot
be subsumed under the rubric of natural causality, they belong to the
realm of “chance” and accidents: “The sages have already explained
that whatever one considers of the effects of these ‘talismans’ is a matter
that can happen by chance) and they attribute it to them [talismans],
and this is a correct philosophical matter.”28 Maimonides uses this
terminology in the Guide as well, noting how the magicians threaten
those who ignore their actions with disaster: “Now this may happen
by accident some day to a certain individual, and consequently he will
seek to perform the action in question and to follow that belief [in
magic].”29 But, implies Maimonides, if the magician’s threat is indeed
realized, that is to be attributed to chance alone.
In other words: it is impossible to include the “effects” of magic in
the framework of physical laws, as chance is not subject to causality
and is therefore not a fit subject for knowledge and study. Hence, those
who acknowledge magic as a regular, predictable phenomenon, subject
to definite laws,30 are not truly expert in the laws of nature, although
they might be considered proficient in astronomy, being capable of
performing the requisite calculations of astral configurations. Since
they are unable to distinguish between the laws of nature and chance,
they cannot be considered “perfect” scholars. We return below to the
definition of magic as a realm amenable to neither explanation nor,
a fortiori, verification in Aristotelian physics in the discussion of the
astronomy and physics, as scientific disciplines, call on similar modes of thought, in

the sense that stars/planets obey the physical laws governing action at a distance.
27 Guide 2.20 [312]; ed. Munk-Joel, 217, l. 26.
28 Maimonides, Commentary to the Mishnah, Avodah Zarah 4:7. Maimonides here
uses the terms ’ittif§q as well as ‘arad to describe the element of chance in the sublunar
world. On these terms in Maimonides’ thought, see Abraham Nuriel, “Maimonides
on Chance in the World of Generation and Passing Away” [Hebrew], Jerusalem Stud-
ies in Jewish Thought 2 (1983): 41. On the doctrine of nature in Maimonides, see also
Arthur Hyman, “Some Aspects of Maimonides’ Philosophy of Nature,” La filosofia
della natura nel Medioevo (Milan: Vita e pensiero, 1966), 209-218.
29 Guide 3.37 [546]; ed. Munk-Joel, 400, l. 7.
30 This is indeed the magician’s basic assumption: magic is subject to constant
laws, and the desired results will therefore always follow from the magical act.
40 chapter two
doctrine of segullot. In any event, Maimonides’ criticism of “the good

and pious men of our Torah” may have been directed, in a sense,
against Abraham Ibn Ezra and his circle. Ibn Ezra had a reputation
of expertise in astronomy, but he was not known for his knowledge of
natural science: his “scientific” works were exclusively concerned with
astrology, not one of them having anything to say about physics.
Experiential Knowledge and Astral Magic

The distinctions between various levels of magic and the particular
prominence of astral magic also figure in Maimonides’ treatment of
the doctrine of segullot, although in a different manner. According to
this doctrine, the visible activities of the forms constitute only a small
part of the possibilities embodied in their essence. There is a won-
drous world of regularity in the hidden forms, such as the efficacy of
remedies in pharmacology or the action of magnetic forces, which
cannot be explained by means of Aristotelian causality. These special
properties, known as segullot (singular: segullah; Arabic: kh§ßßa), can
only be discovered through experience, and hence scholars dealing
with them are sometimes called “the masters of experience.” The
term experience is used here in the meaning of experimenta, referring
to “events that were indeterminate or purely contingent, and hence
could be known only by experiencing.”31 In one of his medical works
(Commentary on the Aphorisms of Hippocrates), Maimonides explains the
action of medicinal herbs in terms of three levels (“powers”): (1) the
primary action of the remedy, such as its cooling, warming or drying
action; (2) the secondary action of the remedy, such as its softening
or hardening action; both of these levels reflect the remedy’s action
through its matter; (3) the action of the remedy through its form,
that is, its segullot. Maimonides describes this third level of activity
as follows:
Those actions which the remedy performs in our bodies through its
forma specifica, by which that body becomes a substance, are what the
physicians call segullot. And Galen used to say regarding this type of
action that it acts through its being a substance. And the fact is that it
effects its action through its forma specifica, by which that body becomes
a substance, but not as an action due to its quality. And these are also
31Willam Eamon, Science and the Secret of Nature (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Uni-
versity Press, 1994), 56.
called “the third powers,” such as the laxative power of laxative remedies,
or [remedies] that induce vomiting, or the property of a drug to kill or
save the person who drinks it or is stung by some poisonous creature.
All these actions derive from form, not from matter.32
The action of the segullot cannot be attributed exclusively to the pri-
mary opposites (dry, wet, hot, cold) and their combinations; it may be
discovered only through experience. Thus, their efficacy stems from
their forma specifica [their form as species], that is, from the essence of
the objects concerned and from their powers. As a physician, Mai-
monides could only acknowledge that certain medicinal herbs were
efficacious by virtue of such special properties, although he could not
explain the phenomenon in the framework of the Aristotelian scien-
tific paradigm to which he subscribed. He devoted a special section
in Aphorisms (Chapter 22) to various segullot, quoting extensively from
Muslim medical literature on the subject. For example, concerning a
remedy for healing epilepsy, he writes: “and this has already been tried
and tested.”33 In other words, he acknowledges the pharmacological
efficacy of such remedies although it cannot be derived in any logical
way from the material structure of the object.
As to the possible connection between segullot and magic, particularly
in the context of the halakhic concept of “the ways of the Amorite,”
Maimonides writes in the Guide of the Perplexed:
In order to keep people away from all magical practices, it has been
prohibited to observe any of their [the idolaters’] usages… I mean all
that is said to be useful, but is not required by speculation concerning
nature, and takes its course, in their opinion, in accordance with occult
properties.34 This is the meaning of its dictum: “And ye shall not walk
in the customs [huqqot] of the nation” [Lev. 20:23], these being those
32 Maimonides, Commentary on the Aphorisms of Hippocrates, Hebrew translation by
Moses Ibn Tibbon, ed. Sussman Muntner (Jerusalem, Mosad Harav Kook, 1961)
13. See J. O. Leibowitz and S. Marcus, “Sefer Hanisyonot”: The Book of Medical Experi-
ences Attributed to Abraham Ibn Ezra (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1984) 18; Yitzhak Tzvi
Langermann, “Gersonides on the Magnet and the Heat of the Sun,” in Studies on
Gersonides: A Fourteenth-Century Jewish Philosopher-Scientist, ed. Gad Freudenthal (Leiden:
Brill, 1992), 269-275; Schwartz, Astral Magic, 53-54, 59-60. The distinction between
effects due to quality and effects due to form was common in the Middle Ages. See,
for example, Abravanel, Commentary on the Torah, Deuteronomy 18:9 (Jerusalem,
1964) 175.
33 Pirqei Moshe (Aphorisms of Moses), trans. Nathan ha-Me’ati, ed. Sussman Muntner
(Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1961), 270 (18); see 272 (35). This example is also
adduced in Guide 3:37.
34 In the source: al-khaw§ß (Munk-Joel, 398, l. 10), meaning “special property.” The
42 chapter two
that are called by [the sages], may their memory be blessed, ways of
the Amorite. For they are branches of magical practices, inasmuch as
they are things not required by reasoning concerning nature and lead to
magical practices that of necessity seek support in astrological notions.
Accordingly the matter is turned into a glorification and a worship of
the stars. They say explicitly: “All that pertains to medicine does not
pertain to the ways of the Amorite” [TB Shabbat 67a]. They mean by
this that all that is required by speculation concerning nature is permit-
ted, whereas other practices are forbidden... For it is allowed to use all
remedies similar to these that experience has shown to be valid even if
reasoning (qiy§s) does not require them.35
In this passage, Maimonides presents two clear criteria for distinguishing
the action of magic from that of segullot. A magical act must have two
characteristics: (1) it may be associated with astrology (“seek support in
astrological notions”); (2) it cannot be included within the framework
of the laws of nature, whether theoretical or experiential. The action
of a segullah, on the other hand, has nothing to do with astrology, and
is moreover confirmed by experience. Hence, Maimonides classifies
the action of segullot as processes that take place in the material world
but are not subject to logical reasoning and do not derive from the
qualities of the object. This classification should be understood in light
of Maimonides’ well-known statement: “All that Aristotle states about
that which is beneath the sphere of the moon is in accordance with
[logical] reasoning.”36 And Maimonides goes on to stipulate three
conditions by virtue of which a physical process becomes a logical
inference: (1) “things that have a known cause,” (2) “that follow one
word is derived from khaß, that is, “special” or “unique.” Ibn Tibbon in his translation
therefore added the synonymous term ha-kohot ha-meyuhadot, as the term equivalent
to segullah would be kohot (meaning hidden in the forms of matter). Moreover, we
have already explicitly stated that segullot are designated kohot, meaning “forces” (see
above). This being so, it would appear that Qafih’s sharp comment in his translation
(Moreh Nevukhim, vol. 3 [Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1972] 594, n. 32) is totally
inappropriate. Note that Al-Harizi translated al-khaw§ß simply as kohot.
35 Guide 3.37 [543, 544]. On the permission to use medicinal remedies, see
Maimonides’ ruling in Code, Laws of Sabbath, 19:13. See Entsiqlopedya Talmudit, vol.
7, 706-712.
36 Guide 2.24 [326]. See W. M. Feldman, “Maimonides as Physician and Scientist,”
in Moses Maimonides, ed. Isidore Epstein (London: Soncino Press, 1935) 130-132. See
also the extensive study by Joel Kraemer, “Maimonides on Aristotle and the Scientific
Method” [Hebrew], Shlomo Pines Jubilee Volume: On the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday,
ed. Moshe Idel, Warren Zeev Harvey and Eliezer Schweid (Jerusalem: Jerusalem
Studies in Jewish Thought, 1990), 193-224, esp. 215-216.
upon the other,” (3) “concerning which it is clear and manifest at

what points wisdom and natural providence are effective.”
These conditions cannot account for segullot, since their mode of
operation and their underlying basis are not known to the observer.
Nevertheless, some of the processes associated with segullot belong to
natural philosophy, even though they are not subject to the methods
of “demonstration” or “reasoning” and do not follow from the basic
material properties of the object. Since the effect of segullot is attributed
to the form of the object, it is not independent of causality. Accord-
ingly, it may be considered within the framework of physical causality
and laws and is therefore distinct from acts of magic, which fall under
the rubric of “accident” rather than “natural law.” A segullah thus
represents a law of nature, but one whose mode of operation cannot
be inferred from Aristotelian physics. Notably, Maimonides does not
consider the possible existence of a segullah relying on experience but
associated with astrology.
One point needs clarification here: What is the criterion for the
definition of segullot derived from “natural philosophy”? In other words:
how can one distinguish between genuine segullot and segullot which
Halakhah would classify as belonging to “the ways of the Amorite”?
According to the passage cited above from Guide 3.37, Maimonides
bases the legitimacy of the segullah on the degree of experience involved
in its discovery (“all that experience has shown to be valid”). If the
results of the action in question are repeatedly confirmed by experience,
it is both effective (from the medical viewpoint) and permissible (from
the halakhic viewpoint). If the action is not firmly rooted in experi-
ence, it is not effective and is therefore forbidden, because it is likely to
be interpreted as deriving from astral influence. Hence, Maimonides
explicitly stipulates: “all that experience has shown to be valid.”37 He
is willing to admit the existence of processes not open to description in
Aristotelian science, provided they are subject to empirical verification.
This reliance on empirical observation is in fact similar to Aristotle’s
method in his biological works.
In addition, Maimonides is prepared to exclude the properties of
37 Millot Ha-Higayon, ch. 8, cited according to Israel Efros, Maimonides’ Treatise on
Logic (New York: American Academy for Jewish Research, 1938), 40, ll. 16-17. See
also ch. 14, 61, l. 9. The example given there by Maimonides is the beneficial action
of the drug scammonia (mentioned in Aphorisms of Moses, ch. 20. See Pirqei Moshe, 229
[13] for the processes of digestion and excretion).
44 chapter two
medicinal herbs from the definition of “the ways of the Amorite,”

as he does not consider such properties to involve any astrological
coloring.38 On the other hand, any association of such remedies with
the motions of the stars labels them, in point of both medical efficacy
and Halakhah, as “idolatry,” which Maimonides brands as unreal
and nonsensical. Any segullah unconfirmed by experience is halakhi-
cally forbidden, because it cannot be included within the framework
of physical reality.
In sum, Maimonides recognizes the reality of segullot, provided that
two conditions are met: the properties in question are confirmed by
experience, and their action may be explained without any reference
to astrology. For instance, Maimonides’ explained the precept of orlah
(the prohibition on eating the fruit of a tree during the first three years
of its growth) as aimed against magical methods to hasten the produc-
tion of fruit in trees. While such attempts are indeed categorized as
segullot, they are prohibited because they fail to meet the above two
conditions: first, despite popular belief (“…what they thought,” in
Maimonides’ terminology), their efficacy is not verified; second, these
attempts employ a “method… of the same character as the talismans”
in conjunction, moreover, with “the sun’s entering into a certain degree
[of the Zodiac],” that is, a certain astral configuration.39
Maimonides thus draws a sharp distinction between astral magic and
segullot. In so doing he is not only expressing his objection to “learned”
magic, and a fortiori “primitive” magic, but also clearly demarcating
the borderline between the imaginary and the real, and between the
forbidden and the permitted.
38In the above quotation: “that of necessity seek support in astrological notions.”
On the profound philosophical and scientific motives for Maimonides’ condemnation
of astrology as idolatrous see Langermann, “Maimonides’ Repudiation,” 146-151.
Thorndike, while realizing Maimonides’ “retreat” from a total rejection of magic
in medical matters, overlooked the fact that he removed segullot from the realm of
astrology; see Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, vol. 2, 209.
39 Fourteenth century exegetes of Ibn Ezra’s circle interpreted biblical passages in
light of the possibility of hastening the ripening of fruits. See Dov Schwartz, “Worship
of God or of Star? The Controversy of R. Abraham al-Tabib and R. Solomon Franco”
[Hebrew], Kabbalah: Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts 1 (1996): 219.
Reactions
Having clarified Maimonides’ attitude to astral magic, we shall now

consider the reactions to his firm rejection of such practices in late
medieval thought. This section will be devoted to critical responses; in
the next, some consideration will be given to the variegated exegeses
aroused by his position.
Criticism of Maimonides’ Position

Solomon ben Adret (Rashba), in a famous responsum concerning the
“metallic image of a lion used as a remedy,” questioned Maimonides’
attitude to magic on several counts. As opposed to the brief comments
of other halakhic authorities, Rashba posed several penetrating and
fundamental questions. Some of these touched directly on Maimonides’
attitude toward the extensive magical material in the Talmud: how,
asked Rashba, could Maimonides contradict various pronouncements
of the talmudic sages concerning magic, and why did he exclude
such material from his great legal code? These questions exceed the
scope of the present discussion.40 Some of Rashba’s other questions,
however, relating to a seeming inconsistency in Maimonides’ attitude
toward magic, have a direct bearing on our subject:
1. On the one hand, Rashba maintains, Maimonides claims that
all magical practices have no substance, while on the other hand he
claims that magical practices that are beneficial for healing may be
used and hence are real. This substantive distinction leads to a hal-
akhic paradox: according to the former statement, all matters of magic
are prohibited without exception as illusory, whereas according to
the second statement, those verified by experience are allowed. As
Rashba writes:
The words of the Master, of blessed memory, need close examination.
For from his words we learn that any thing from which true benefit
40 Rashba was only one of many critics who attacked Maimonides for failing
to adhere to rabbinic views. See, for example, Nissim Girondi, Derashot ha-Ran, ed.
Aryeh L. Feldman (Jerusalem: Shalem Institute, 1977) 205, 220; Yosef b. David of
Saragosa, Commentary on the Torah, ed. Aryeh L. Feldman (Jerusalem: Shalem Institute,
1970) 121. For examples of magical material in the Talmud ignored by Maimonides,
see Lewis, “Maimonides on Superstition,” 584-684. See Dov Schwartz, “The Debate
on Astral Magic in Provence in the Fourteenth Century” [Hebrew], Zion 58 (1993):
141-174.
46 chapter two
may ensue is not considered prohibited by the Torah in any respect,

whether it be through a real property [segullah] which is found in their
body [namely, of natural substances], or whether it be confirmed by
experience… But now, after forbidding, he has permitted, [ruling that] if
something has been shown by experience to be beneficial, it is permitted
to rely because of this experience upon magicians.41
2. Although Maimonides permitted magical practices associated with
healing, he prohibited them again under the heading of “the ways
of the Amorite.” After quoting the passage from Guide 3.37 cited
above in the discussion of segullot, Rashba comments: “Indeed, he
has prohibited to us even a thing that is beneficial by virtue of being
a segullah, if it cannot be derived by natural philosophy. Thus, we
should again prohibit the nail of a person who is crucified because
of ‘ways of the Amorite,’ after having permitted it.”42 Rashba there-
fore concludes: “Hence the Master, of blessed memory, has left us
in great confusion.”
3. At the conclusion of his lengthy responsum, Rashba adds a
further critical comment regarding Maimonides’ statement that “all
that is derived by natural philosophy is permitted, whereas other
practices are forbidden.”43 Rashba examines the concept of “natural
philosophy”: Maimonides was presumably referring to whatever the
classical philosophers and physicians considered in their writings (he
specifically mentions Aristotle and Galen), and claimed that whatever
is not included within that framework cannot be subsumed under the
heading of “natural philosophy.” Rashba comments: “This is truly
something that the intellect cannot accept,”44 for a major character-
istic of the segullah is that its mode of operation cannot be explained
logically within the frame of Aristotelian science, and so it cannot be
considered in the context of the findings of the philosophers, even the
most perfect among them. Rashba’s discussion of magic was in fact
included in the debate over philosophy that broke out at that time,
and in which he himself took a major part.45 He could not, there-
41 The responsum was printed in Abba Mari of Lunel’s book Minhat Qena’ot, ch.
21, and in Rashba, Responsa, 1: 414. The quotations are from Rashba, Responsa, ed.
Hayyim Z. Dimitrovsky, Part I, vol. 1 (Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1990) 285-
287, ll. 56-59, 72-73.
42 Ibid., 287-288, ll. 85-87. See Twersky, “Halakhah and Science,” 137, n. 54.
43 Ibid., 309, ll. 348-349.
44 Ibid., 309, l. 356.
45 On the connection between this polemic and magical teachings, see Shatz-
fore, agree to make philosophical authority the exclusive criterion for

attitudes to magic.
Rashba’s objections, even considered in isolation from the historical
context of Provence at the end of the thirteenth century and begin-
ning of the fourteenth century, highlight the problematic nature of
Maimonides’ attitude to magic, understood by Rashba and his con-
temporaries to apply uniformly to all forms of magic. Our discussion
up to this point indicates that Maimonides’ stance was coherent and
consistent, even if Rashba, who believed in the principles of astrology
and was inclined to acknowledge the reality of astral magic, found it
difficult to accept such a stance.
The question Rashba had been asked concerned “the image of a lion
[as a remedy to heal] the kidneys,” that is, an act of bringing down
astral spirituality for medical purposes. Maimonides strongly denied
the reality of talismanic/astral magic, as we saw in the first two sec-
tions above, and in fact associated it with idolatry. Since Maimonides’
definition of magic is based on astrology, it seems clear that his attitude
was consistent and coherent. The contradictions that Rashba claimed
to have found were due to the fact that, unlike Maimonides, he made
no distinction between the validity and substance of astral magic and
those of the doctrine of segullot. Understanding Maimonides’ concept
of magic to be homogeneous, Rashba could not reconcile the latter’s
absolute prohibition of magic with his permission to use experientially
verified segullot. Since both astrologers and magicians on the one hand,
and “masters of experience” on the other, claimed that their discover-
ies were based on experience, that is, on the recurrent success of their
activities, Rashba lumped astral magic and segullot together.
Rashba was in fact representative of the tendency in his day to
combine astral magic with the doctrine of segullot. A good illustration
of this may be found in the book Ma‘aseh Nissim by Nissim of Mar-
seilles (first half of fourteenth century), who bases his explanation of
the sacrificial rite on talismanic magic and the efficacy of segullot:
The matter of sacrifices was known from antiquity and was well known
to all persons who purport to know the future, such as soothsayers and
miller, “The Form of the Twelve Constellations,” 397-398, and the bibliography cited
there. In addition, Nahmanides’ influence on Rashba in this connection should not
be ignored. Compare David Margalit, Jewish Sages as Physicians [Hebrew] (Jerusalem:
Mosad Harav Kook, 1962), 131-133. For a comprehensive discussion see Schwartz,
Astral Magic, 219-261.
48 chapter two
priests of high places and Baalim and Ashtarot, and those who make
images and talismans, that is to say, they [sacrifices] help in various
things through their pleasant odors, for the odor of burning flesh and
fats are a marvelous segullah for this.46
Returning now to Maimonides’ distinction between astral magic and
the doctrine of segullot, let us refine that distinction, noting that his
position in relation to experientially discovered remedies is rooted
in his scientific methodology. As Kraemer has already observed,47
Maimonides does not reject findings that have not been obtained by
demonstrative methods, that is, by logical reasoning. He requires such
findings, however, to be treated within the framework of other modes
of inference, namely, by dialectical reasoning, which is influenced to
some degree by human subjectivity. Dialectical reasoning is an integral
part of science, though considered inferior in validity to demonstrative
methods. The study of segullot does indeed belong to natural science,
but its findings are discovered by experience and hence not derivable
by logical inference. In addition, there is a significant affinity between
the medicinal benefits of segullot and Aristotle’s biological teaching,
which employs different methods of research than physics and closer
to those of experimental science,48 as Maimonides was apparently well
aware. Similarly, Galen’s medical works are also partly based upon
experience.49 This being so, the study of those segullot that meet the
requirements of science may be considered a scientific discipline. Yet,
any association of such studies with astrology pulls the “scientific”
ground from beneath them and takes matters into a halakhically
46 Nissim of Marseilles, Ma‘aseh Nissim, published by Joshua Heschel Schorr in
He-Halutz 7 (1865): 130. On further references related to magic in Ma‘aseh Nissim, see
Schorr’s comments, 111-112. The magical link between the sacrificial rite and the
prediction of the future appears in other sources. See, for instance, the paraphrase to
a commentary on Sefer Yetsirah by Judah ibn Malkah, Kit§b Uns wa-TafsÊr, ed. Georges
Vajda (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University, 1974) 26 (the abridger notes the Hermetic
source of the material). See also the responsum of Profiat Duran to Meir Crescas,
which relies upon Ibn Ezra’s commentary to Leviticus 1:1 (“There are also in the
burnt offerings secrets concerning the future.” See Idel, “Magical and Neoplatonic
Interpretation,” 81-82.
47 Kraemer, “On Aristotle and the Scientific Method,” 220.
48 See, for example, G. E. R. Lloyd, “Experiment in Early Greek Philosophy
and Medicine,” Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society 190 (1964): 50-72; Robert
Bolton, “Definition and Scientific Method in Aristotle’s Posterior Analytics and Generation
of Animals,” in Philosophical Issues in Aristotle’s Biology, ed. Allan Gotthelf and James G.
Lennox (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 120-166.
49 See Thorndike, A History of Magic, vol. 2, 139-165.
forbidden area, since astral magic is a false belief, completely devoid

of any scientific value.
Maimonides is thus consistent in his approach to magic, even given
his seemingly ambivalent rulings concerning the issue of segullot, to
which Rashba addressed himself. As to the halakhic and talmudic
material cited by Rashba as seemingly contradicting this position,
Maimonides would presumably have classified the relevant practices
under the heading of segullot discovered by natural philosophy and
therefore permissible.
Influence and Rejection

How did the Maimonidean rejection of magical practices influence
the coming generations of medieval philosophy? In order to answer
this question, we will briefly outline some of the reactions to Mai-
monides’ critique in the late Middle Ages, in particular to his negation
of astral magic. Emphasis will be placed on the dilemma facing those
rationalists who, on the one hand, looked up to Maimonides as their
primary philosophical authority, while on the other subscribing to
some degree or another to astral magic. A widespread belief in the
efficacy of astral magic is documented from approximately the last
third of the thirteenth century.50
We begin with some of the thinkers who joined Maimonides in his
rejection of astral science, since it was only natural his unequivocal
approach should evoke similar critiques among his contemporaries and
immediate successors. In the philosophical context, mention should be
made of Isaac Pollegar, who devoted the third part of his work, Ezer
ha-Dat, to an attack upon astrology, in the course of which he men-
tions Hermetic literature alongside astral magic.51 Among halakhic
scholars, an uncompromising stand against astrology, and probably
also astral magic, was taken by Judah ben Asher.52 Another follower
of Maimonides in this area was Menahem ha-Meiri, who formulated
50 One of the earliest thinkers to deal at length with astral magic was Judah b.
Nissim ibn Malkah, as shown by the studies of Georges Vajda. On the period of his
activity, see Moshe Idel, “The Beginning of North African Kabbalah?” [Hebrew],
Pe#amim 43 (1990): 6-7.
51 See Yitzhak Folker, Ezer ha-Dat, ed. Jacob Levinger (Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv Uni-
versity Press, 1984), 115.

52 See Ron Barkai, Science, Magic, and Mythology in the Middle Ages [Hebrew] (Jeru-
salem: Van Leer, 1987), 11.

50 chapter two
a clear-cut criterion for the permissibility of medications based upon

repeated experience: as long as there is no connection between the
action of the medication and that of the stars, it is not considered “ways
of the Amorite.”53 In the fifteenth century, Elijah Delmedigo criticized
attempts to explain the commandments as tools for bringing down
heavenly forces.54 Rashba’s hesitations and his tentative language thus
reflect the considerable differences between those who acknowledged
the validity of astral magic, or at least its medicinal benefit, and those
who, following Maimonides, opposed it.
Other scholars were troubled by their dilemma between their ven-
eration of Maimonides and their own belief in astral magic. Some of
them tried to resolve the impasse by arguing that Maimonides actually
admitted the efficacy and beneficial effects of magic, not in an onto-
logical but in a psychological sense. Magical practices, they reasoned,
arouse the imagination and thereby enable the magician to foresee
the future. A moderate example of this is found in an apologia sent
to Rashba by Jedaiah ha-Penini Bedersi at the beginning of the four-
teenth century. While admitting that Maimonides negates the reality
of different forms of magic, Jedaiah believes that Maimonides would
agree that the future can be predicted with a reasonable degree of
probability through magic and astrological calculations. Jedaiah wrote
his apologia in response to the anti-philosophical ban issued by Rashba
and his court, referring in particular to their prohibition on interpreting
the Temple vessels and priestly garments as symbols of astronomical
instruments (such as the astrolabe). There are, he claims, two kinds
of knowledge of the future outside the prophetic sphere:
The first type is revealing the unknown by the power of the imagination
alone, through a wondrous disposition of his [the practitioner’s] nature.
The practitioner of this technique reveals secrets, whether in sleep—that
is, the matter of correct dreams—or in a waking state, while exercising
his faculties to some extent, and that is what is called divination [kesem].
Sometimes the divination is preceded by certain actions to arouse the
53See Beth ha-Behirah le-Masekhet Shabbat, ed. Yitzhak Shimson Lange (Jerusalem:
n.p. 1976) 249-250. In this source, Menahem ha-Meiri attributes simple magical
belief to “nursing women and those who raise their children in the study of these
vain things” (250). On Meiri’s attitude to astral magic, see Dov Schwartz, “La Magie
Astrale dans la pensée juive rationaliste en Provence au XIVe siècle,” AHDLMA 61
(1994): 35-37; idem, Astral Magic, 219-261.
54 Sefer Behinat ha-Dat, ed. Jacob Joshua Ross (Tel-Aviv: Tel-Avi University, 1984),
99. See Idel, “Magical and Neoplatonic Interpretation,” 76.

imagination, and sometimes without them, depending on the strength of

the disposition. Among such preliminary actions are consulting a medium
or a wizard, and necromancy, and augury involving the chirping of living
creatures and in audible speech, and certain kinds of soothsaying at set
hours, and many kinds of sorcery and casting lots by striking the sand,
and by palmistry and creases in the shoulder, and other kinds of lots—all
these are only means of arousing the imagination for those who are so
disposed, according to the opinion of our great Rabbi [Maimonides],
without these contemptible acts having any concrete reality.55
Maimonides, Jedaiah believes, would not deny that magical techniques
might be considered effective to some degree, provided that their
efficacy is attributed solely to stimulation of the imaginative faculty.
Jedaiah’s second type is prediction of the future based upon the
laws of astrology, which he believed that even Maimonides would
acknowledge, once again with the proviso that astral influence was
capable only of arousing the imaginative faculty:
And even though it seems from the words of our great rabbi, of blessed
memory, in The Book of the Commandments and elsewhere that such pre-
diction of the future [by means of astrology] is also to be ascribed to
the imagination, and that determining the laws [lit: the judgments, of
the stars, namely, astrology] is useless except insofar as it arouses the
imaginative faculty alone, because he does not believe in astrology in the
manner that was agreed upon by the elders of that art in their books,
for necessary reasons relating to religion and intellect.56
Thus, Jedaiah argued that Maimonides allowed magical techniques
as a psychological tool, though he did not go as far as claiming that
Maimonides acknowledged the reality of magic; magic is effective, he
asserts, solely as a means of exciting and arousing imaginative powers
and thus enabling the practitioner to predict the future.
What Jedaiah did not do at the beginning of the fourteenth century,
however, was done later during that century. Discussing astral influ-
ences, Nissim Gerondi (Ran) wrote: “It is impossible that their influence
55 Ketav Hitnazzelut, printed in Teshuvot ha-Rashba (Bologna, 1539), 79b. Note that
Jedaiah indeed rejects the reality of astral magic. One of the benefits gained by
studying the secular sciences, he believes, is their use in proving the inefficacy of
such magic. See ibid., 81a, and Schwartz, Astral Magic, 219-261.
56 Rashba, Responsa, 79c. Incidentally, Gersonides follows a similar line, interpreting
the terafim as a means of bringing astral influence down to images, adding that they
were “a thing that arouses the power of the imagination” (Commentary to 1 Samuel
15:23), and see Schwartz, Astral Magic, 237-243.
52 chapter two
[that of celestial bodies] should not be drawn down to a greater or

lesser degree in accordance with the disposition of those who become
aroused.”57 Nissim quotes from Guide 3.37 and immediately goes on
to say, as if summarizing Maimonides’ view:
And it follows from this that the only things prohibited by the Torah
are the vain things that have no reality, that is, to direct the will of the
source of influence, which is a matter that has no truth. But as to pre-
paring the affected object, whether through overt or covert nature, as
in the doctrine of segullot, the Torah did not prohibit that at all.58
Thus, unlike ha-Meiri and others who held similar opinions, Nissim
believed that even Maimonides conceded the possibility of using
experiential means to receive the influence of astral bodies.
Finally, I conclude with an interesting example of an impossible
attempt to harmonize Maimonides’ teachings with astral magic in a
concrete sense. Samuel Ibn Zarza, active in Spain in the second half
of the fourteenth century, used ideas of astral magic in his exegesis
on rabbinic Aggadah and the Bible, as well as in a supercommentary
on Ibn Ezra’s biblical commentary. The context of my illustration is
the astral-magical explanation of the sacrificial rite as a technique for
bringing down spirituality. Ibn Zarza, ignoring Maimonides’ critique
of astral magic, wonders why Maimonides did not mention this line
of reasoning in his own interpretation of sacrifices. Answering his
own query, he replies: “And the truth is that the Rabbi, of blessed
memory, avoided saying things that relate to the stars, but brought
his words and his discussion close to the intention of the Torah.”59 In
other words, Maimonides endeavored to ensure that his reasons for
the commandments would conform to the plain meaning of the writ-
ten text, rather than to their deeper significance. In another context,
commenting on Maimonides’ statement that “he who knows God ‘finds
grace in His sight’ and not he who merely fasts and prays” (Guide 1.54
[123]), Ibn Zarza writes:
57Feldman, Derashot ha-Ran, 58. See also 60.

58Ibid., 59. See also 219-222. He concludes that we are permitted to prepare
“a special image for healing” (222).
59 Ibn Zarza, Meqor Hayyim, 63d. On the magical rationale in the writings of
Ibn Zarza for the sacrificial rite as negating the harm caused by the stars, see Dov
Schwartz, The Religious Philosophy of R. Samuel ibn Zarza [Hebrew] (Ph. D. diss., Bar
Ilan University, 1989), 1: 180.
That if he prays [as a defense against] anger, he should do so at a time

when the planet Jupiter, which signifies anger, is in its degree. And if he
prays for water he should do so when the moon is in its degree, which
signifies water; and he should not pray [as a defense against] heat when
Mars, which signifies heat, is at its exaltation; and in the degree of Saturn
for the revelation of secrets and for revenge from his enemies.60
Thus, Ibn Zarza interprets Maimonides’ statement to the effect that
a person’s prayer is defective if not coordinated with the position of
the heavenly body appropriate to his need. Prayer here assumes an
explicitly magical guise, in accordance with the benefits mentioned
(water, being saved from heat, vengeance), and Maimonides is depicted
as specifically advocating such an outlook. Ibn Zarza, incidentally, was
well versed in the Guide of the Perplexed, which he cites on almost every
page of Meqor Hayyim and frequently in Mikhlol Yofi. Thus, despite
presumably being aware of Maimonides’ views on astral magic, he
nevertheless saw fit to propose a patently absurd reading, namely, to
harmonize his views with those of the magicians.61 Perhaps Ibn Zarza
believed that Maimonides’ rejection of astral magic was intended
for an exoterical context, but that esoterically he in fact believed in
astral magic.
It is instructive to compare this philosophical situation with the
parallel one in the world of Muslim thought: Averroes’ adamant
opposition to astrology and its kindred practices found no tangible
echoes in the Muslim world. Thus, for example, Ibn Khaldån was not
at all influenced by Averroes in the lengthy discussion of magic in his
Muqaddima, just as he was not influenced by him in his own moderate
rejection of astrology.62 By contrast, Maimonides’ massive influence
60 Samuel ibn Zarza, Mikhlol Yofi, Ms. Paris Heb. 729-730, Coll. 1, 217a. Solomon
Alconstantin likewise claims that Maimonides certainly did not ignore the magical-
astral rationale for sacrifices. See Dov Schwartz, “Astrology and Astral Magic in the
Writings of R. Salomon Alconstantin” [Hebrew], Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Folklore 15
(1993): 56; idem, Astral Magic, 118.
61 On a similar phenomenon in the teaching of Ibn Shaprut, see Schwartz,
“Various Forms of Magic,” 44, n. 73; Frimer and Schwartz, The Life and Thought of
Shem Tov ibn Shaprut, 162. Note also two formulas in the realm of alchemy that were
attributed to Maimonides in Ms. Manchester-Gaster 1435. See: Iggerot ha-Rambam,
ed. Yitzhak Shailat, vol. 2 (Jerusalem: Ma#lyiot, 1988) 693-694. Shailat remarks that
it is questionable “the author did not know Maimonides’ attitude to alchemy.” More
probably, the copyist wished to appropriate the authoritative figure of Maimonides
to legitimize alchemical activities close to his own heart.
62 Ibn Khaldån, Muqaddima, 258-267.
54 chapter two
was a central element of Jewish philosophic thought from the thirteenth

to the fifteenth centuries, so that a thinker like Samuel ibn Zarza had
to reconcile the approach of Maimonides to his own world view, no
less than magical discussions were ascribed to Averroes.63 Neither
he nor other rationalists could accept such an obvious clash between
the approach of the profoundly venerated Maimonides and a central,
significant area of their own activity and thought—astral magic.
In a sense, the attitude to magic is comparable with certain tradi-
tions that saw Maimonides as a kabbalist.64 But together with this
similarity there is also a great difference: nowhere in his writings does
Maimonides relate to kabbalistic doctrines, and his supposed attitude
to Kabbalah was inferred solely from attempts to reinterpret the spirit
of his teachings, which are not readily harmonized with theosophic or
ecstatic doctrines. Magic, however, he rejects explicitly and entirely.
Yet despite this uncompromising rejection, medieval thinkers and
writers claimed that Maimonides recognized the efficacy of astral
magic and, in the epistle known as Megillat Setarim—falsely attributed
to Maimonides—the author of the epistle proposes, in Maimonides’
name, a detailed formula for bringing down celestial spirituality.65
In sum: Maimonides’ true approach to magic was never universally
accepted and did not strike roots in medieval Jewish thought.
63 The book Moznei ha-‘Iyyunim was attributed to Averroes by several medieval
thinkers. For example, the circle of Provençal exegetes of The Kuzari at the beginning
of the fifteenth century consistently attributed this work to him. See, for instance,
Nathaniel Kaspi, Edut le-Yisra’el (Commentary toThe Kuzari), Ms. Paris 677, 21b, 158a,
181a; Jacob Farissol, Beth Ya‘akov, Ms. Berlin 124, 18b, 122b, 123a, 139b; Solomon
ben Judah of Lunel, Hesheq Shelomo, Ms. Oxford-Bodleian 2383, 20b, 139b. A special
chapter in Moznei ha-‘Iyyunim discusses the spiritual powers of the stars and techniques
for bringing them down. On this work, see Binyamin Abrahamov, “The Sources of
Moznei ha-‘Iyyunim” [Hebrew], Da#at 34 (1995): 83-86.
64 See Moshe Idel, “Maimonides and Kabbalah,” Studies in Maimonides, ed. Isadore
Twersky (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1990) 31-79.

65 See Qovets Iggerot ha-Rambam, Part II (Leipzig, 1859) 36b. See Idel, “Maimonides
and Kabbalah,” 79. A similar phenomenon may be observed in our own times. A
group of yeshivah students engaged in the study of Jewish astrological writings has
already published two books in a series entitled “Astrology from a Torah Perspective”
(Ha-Itztagninut be-Aspaqlaryah shel Torah): Shelomo Peniel, Or Einayim (Jerusalem: A.
Fischer, 1983); and a selection of writings by Moses Sofer (Hatam Sofer) on astrology
(Jerusalem, 1984). Both books open with a publisher’s introduction citing various
passages from Maimonides’ writings on the value of knowledge about the universe
as a motto for the entire book, as if Maimonides had never written anything in
condemnation of astrology!
from theurgy to magic 55
CHAPTER THREE
FROM THEURGY TO MAGIC:

SACRIFICE IN THE CIRCLE OF
NAHMANIDES AND HIS INTERPRETERS
In the early history of Kabbalah, in thirteenth century Spain, Nah-

manides was an authoritative key figure, perceived as such by the
kabbalists themselves. He had several kabbalist-disciples, including
Solomon b. Adret (Rashba), Isaac Todros and David Cohen, and
some of them in turn had their own disciples. Toward the end of the
thirteenth century and at the beginning of the fourteenth century,
members of the second generation of this circle, mainly disciples of
Rashba, wrote a series of works whose main intent was to explain
the kabbalistic “secrets” included in Nahmanides’ commentary to
the Torah. Among these were Bahya b. Asher, Shem Tov ibn Gaon,
Joshua ibn Shu#eib (whose commentary was attributed to ibn Sahula),
and Isaac of Acre. These thinkers have hitherto been considered as
forming a distinct kabbalistic school, propounding a well-defined set
of ideas. Other disciples, who did not deal directly with Nahmanides’
“secrets” though kabbalistic theories were by no means foreign to
them, included Yom Tov ibn Ashbili (known as Ritba) and Jacob
Sikili, both disciples of Rashba.
The focus of this chapter is on two models purporting to explain
the reasons for the Torah’s religious precepts: kabbalistic theurgy
(enhancement of divine power) and astral magic, and with the con-
tacts between them, from the preliminary synthesis in Nahmanides’
biblical exegesis and interpretation of the “secret” of sacrifice to the
shades of opinion that evolved among his disciples.
In the kabbalistic-theurgic model, the precepts’ main action is to
achieve proper balance in the world of the sefirot and to enhance their
power and fertility. The balance is generally obtained by drawing
down emanation or influence from the uppermost sefirah (or from
several sefirot) to the lower sefirot. The action (offering a sacrifice) and
its accompanying intention are directed toward “the need of heaven”
(tzorekh gavoah), that is, toward the perfection and proper functioning
of the divine world. The kabbalist is not concerned with personal,
material benefit; even if that is the ultimate outcome, it is not a direct
56 chapter three
consequence of the religious act or the performer’s intent.

The magic-astral model focuses the positive action of the religious
precept on drawing down emanation from the world of the sefirot to
the terrestrial world through rites prescribed in the Hermetic literature,
echoes of which found their way into the worlds of Islam and Judaism.
In many cases, the advocates of this model ascribe the descending influ-
ence to an additional, astral source (stars, constellations). The religious
act is thus directed toward the beneficial, material advantage of the
celebrant (the person offering the sacrifice). The magic-astral model
is also typified by its mode of operation. The influence is brought
down through appropriate preparation on the performer’s part, which
involves a certain symbolification of the emanating source. The magic-
astral model entered Kabbalah thanks to the influence of Abraham
ibn Ezra and Judah Halevi, in whose thought the idea of bringing
the spirituality of the stars down to earth is prominent. It is already
clear in Judah Halevi’s teachings that one can embrace the model of
emanation assumed in astral magic while not necessarily considering
the stars as the source of the emanation. The emanation may flow
from God or from the sefirot, and it is drawn down in the same way
as astral spirituality, that is, by making the prescribed preparations
to bring down divine influence to the material world in combination
with a variety of techniques (prayer, incense burning, and so forth).
Some kabbalists identify the stars themselves as the source of emana-
tion, while others are content with a theosophical source.
In what follows, I will show how the magic-astral model was
embraced by kabbalistic circles in thirteenth and fourteenth century
Spain as a distinct theological factor, and will consider the special part
played in that process by the “secret of sacrifice.”
The Secret of Sacrifice According to Nahmanides: Theurgy v. Astral Magic
Two facts in Nahmanides’ biography point to the coexistence of the the-

oretical and practical models. First, Nahmanides was one of the earli-
est theosophical kabbalists, although his relationship with the circle of
Gerona kabbalists is a matter of scholarly controversy. Second, Nah-
manides was a healer who employed magic-astral techniques.1 I shall
1On the evidence of Rashba as collected in Minhat Qena’ot. See David Margalit,
Jewish Sages as Physicians [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1962), 131-133; Isaiah
argue that Nahmanides, in his philosophical teachings, created a syn-

thesis of the two models—the theosophical-theurgic and the magic-
astral. This synthesis was the beginning of a ramified system of contacts
between the two models among his later kabbalist interpreters.
At several points in Nahmanides’ commentary on the Torah, he
discusses the “secret” of the sacrificial rite, which he calls a “great
secret” or “profound secret.”2 In his commentary on Leviticus 1:9 he
makes a series of allusions that considerably influenced his kabbalist
interpreters in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. Several
passages touch directly upon the theurgic action of the sacrifice:
But the whole subject is explained in the Torah [itself], as it is said,
“My offering, My bread for My fire-offerings (le-ishai)” [Numbers 28:
2]; and it is said, “the food of the fire offering (isheh)” [Leviticus 3:11,
16, and so forth], meaning that the offerings are the food of isheh, and
from it they are for the ishim—the word isheh being an expression for
“fire.” … The reason, however, why He did not say esh but said isheh
[composed of the letters alef, shin, heh] is [to allude to] the plain mean-
ing thereof, as it has been shown you in the Mount3 at the Giving
of the Torah, which refers to the offering in the attribute of justice.4
The slaughtering [of the offering] must be to the Name of the Lord
alone, meaning that [he who slaughters it] must have no intention to
do anything else in the world, save unto the Name of the Lord only,5
Shachar, “The Seal of Nahmanides” [Hebrew], in Jerusalem in the Middle Ages: Selected
Papers, ed. Benjamin Z. Kedar and Zvi Baras (Jerusalem: Yad Yitzhak Ben Zvi,
1979), 146-147.
2 Nahmanides, Commentary on the Torah, 5 vols. trans. Charles B. Chavel (New
York: Shilo Publishing House, 1971-76) Genesis 4:3 [88]; Exodus 22:19 [392]. All
further quotations from Nahmanides’ Torah commentary are from this translation,
with occasional modifications. Number in square brackets refers to page in the cor-
responding volume.
3 Exodus 27:8 (the expression).
4 Nahmanides cites rabbinic sources (Sifri, Pinehas, 143; TB Menahot 110a)
according to which the only Divine Name occurring in the texts relating to sacrifice
is the Tetragrammaton. He quotes several passages dealing with sacrifices, however,
in which names derived from the name Elohim are used. His explanation is that a
sacrifice, by its very nature, involves a sacrifice to esh, “fire,” which represents the
attribute of din (justice). In this sense, the sacrifice is a ransom, as it were, intended
to allay divine wrath. The celebrant’s intentions, however, should be directed toward
the attribute of hesed (love). See Chayim Henoch, Nahmanides Philosopher and Mystic
(Jerusalem: The Harry Fischel Institute for Research in Jewish Law, 1978), 404-407.
In Henoch’s interpretation, the divine influence descends to the sefirot in a fixed order,
one after the other. See Elliot R. Wolfson, “By Way of Truth: Aspects of Nahmanides’
Kabbalistic Hermeneutic,” AJS Review 14 (1989), 131-133.
5 The association of the Tetragrammaton (represented here by “the Lord”) with
58 chapter three
this being the meaning of the expression “it is a burnt offering… a fire-
offering” (olah hu… isheh hu) [Exodus 29:25]… That is why the verse
says, “for the fire-offerings (ishei) of the Lord, the bread of their God,
they offer and they shall be holy,” for the offering of their God is unto
the ishei of the Lord; and therefore the Rabbis have said that in [the
section of the Torah that presents] the commands for the offerings, it
does not mention El or Elohim (God), but “a fire-offering to the Lord,
a pleasing odor to the Lord,” for the intention must be to the Lord
alone, and he who performs the acts of offering it up should have no
other intention save only to the proper Name [the Tetragrammaton].
It is with reference to this too that it is said, [speaking of the offer-
ings,] “They shall come up with acceptance on My altar, and I will
add glory to My glorious house” [Isaiah 60:7]—meaning to say that the
offerings shall be accepted upon His altar, and He will then add glory
to His glorious house when they go up for a pleasing odor, the word
“pleasing” (nihoah) being derived from the expression “there rests” (nahah)
the spirit of Elijah on Elisha”; “and there rested (va-tanah) the spirit upon
them” [Numbers 11:26]. Likewise all terms of qorban (offering) [from the
root qrb, near] are expressions of approaching and unity.6
This kabbalistic interpretation is given after an exposition of the
psychological explanation, according to which the actions involved
in offering the sacrifice shape the celebrant’s thoughts.7 This passage,
the attribute of mercy or compassion (tif’eret, lit.: “splendor”) first appears in the com-
mentary to Genesis 7:1 [114-115]: “[But] now with the attribute of mercy He hinted
to him concerning the sacrifice, to inform him that He will have regard for his offering
and that by the merit of his offering, the world will exist, never again to be cut off by
the waters of the flood. This is why the Tetragrammaton is mentioned here.”
6 Commentary to Leviticus 1:9 [23-25]. The last sentence derives from Sefer
ha-Bahir: “Why is [a sacrifice] called a qorban? Because it brings near [meqarev] the
forms of the holy powers… And nihoah is nothing but descent, as it is said, “and he
descended” [Leviticus 9:22], translated [into Aramaic] ve-nahit, meaning that the
spirit descends and becomes one with those holy forms and is brought near by the
sacrifice, and therefore it is called qorban” (Margalyot ed., para. 109). See Gershom
Scholem, The Kabbalah in Gerona [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Mif#al Hashikhpul, 1976), 334;
Henoch, Nahmanides Philosopher and Mystic, 401.
7 “Since man’s deeds are accomplished through thought, speech and action,
therefore God commanded that when man sins and brings an offering, he should
lay his hands upon it in contrast to the [evil] deed [committed]. He should confess
his sin verbally in contrast to his [evil] speech, and he should burn the inwards and
the kidneys [of the offering] in fire because they are the instruments of thought and
desire in the human being. He should burn the legs [of the offering] since they cor-
respond to the hands and feet of a person, which do all his work. He should sprinkle
the blood upon the altar, which is analogous to the blood in his body. All these acts
are performed in order that when they are done, a person should realize that he has
sinned against his God with his body and his soul, and that his blood should really
as apparently noted already by Ritba,8 is rather ambiguous on two

counts:
1. The pairs of sefirot described here as the theosophical object of the
sacrificial rite are not clearly identified. The “approaching” brought
about by the sacrifice in the world of the sefirot may be understood as
referring to several pairs: din and tif’eret (“His glorious house,” mercy,
the Tetragrammaton); din and malkhut9(isheh, ishim);10 tif’eret and malkhut
(“altar,” “glorious house”); hesed (Yah) and din (Elohim); hokhmah (Yah,
“ratzon” [good will, acceptance)11 and tif’eret or malkhut. This question
be spilled and his body burned, were it not for the loving-kindness of the Creator,
who took from him a substitute and a ransom, namely, this offering, so that its blood
should be in place of his blood, its life in place of his life, and that the chief limbs
of the offering should be in place of the chief parts of his body. The portions [of the
sin-offering given to the priests] are in order to support the teachers of the Torah,
so that they pray on his behalf. The reason for the daily public offering is that it is
impossible for the public [as a whole] to continually avoid sin. Now these are words
which are worthy to be accepted, appealing to the heart as do words of Aggadah”
(Commentary on Leviticus 1:9 [21]).
8 See below, note 34.
9 See Isaac of Acre on sacrifice: “For many of the things R. Azriel associates with
hesed and pahad [fear (din), the master (Nahmanides), may he rest in peace, associates
them with tif’eret and atarah [malkhut]” (Amos Goldreich, Sefer Me’irat Eynayim le-R. Yit-
zhak de-min Akko (Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1984), 146 ll. 16-17. R. Isaac tries to
resolve the contradiction between the two. See Moshe Idel, “R. Moshe ben Nahman:
Kabbalah, Halakhah, and Spiritual Leadership” [Hebrew], Tarbiz 64 (1995): 541.
10 See Elliot Wolfson, “The Secret of the Garment in Nahmanides” [Hebrew],
Da#at 24 (1990): 30-32.

11 Compare: “And He made of them [the thirty-two paths emanating from keter
(the crown)] an object of tif’eret (splendor), alluded to in the Ineffable Name, and
this splendor is known as hokhmah [wisdom].” Gershom Scholem, “The Genuine
Commentary of Nahmanides to the Book of Creation and other Kabbalistic Writings
Attributed to Him” [Hebrew], in Studies in Kabbalah (I), ed. Yosef Ben-Shlomo and
Moshe Idel (Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv: Am Oved, 1998), 89. Nahmanides, in his com-
mentary to Exodus 3:13 [39], identifies Yah with both hokhmah and tif’eret: “It is for
this reason that God commands Moses yet further, ‘The Lord… has sent me to you’
(Exodus 3:15), for this Name [the Tetragrammaton] indicates the attribute of mercy,
and thus they will know that He ‘made His glorious arm [zeroa tif’arto] march at the
right hand of Moses’ [Isaiah 63:12] and He will make new signs and wonders in the
world… For the two final letters of the first name [Ehyeh, the letters being yod and he]
constitute the first ones in this one [the Tetragrammaton]; for in the first they indicate
the wisdom of Solomon… and in this one they indicate the wisdom of God. And the
letter alef in the first [name] indicates eternity and unity, and the yod—the ten sefirot
of bli mah.” At the beginning of this passage, Nahmanides identifies Yah (the first two
letters of the Tetragrammaton) with tif’eret, which performs miracles when nourished
by din. Further, he discusses the structure of the name Ehyeh: The alef represents the
crown and yod-he wisdom. It seems plausible, therefore, that Nahmanides explains
60 chapter three
was discussed at length by the kabbalists among Nahmanides’ inter-

preters in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries.
2. The magic-astral nature of the act of sacrifice is ignored. In this
passage, the secret of sacrifice consists solely of its theurgic effect.
Nahmanides explains the word nihoah (“pleasing [odor]”) as derived
from the root nwh, with the connotation of “to rest” or “to place.”
The term thus implies both the fixing of the sefirot in their proper,
balanced positions (“approaching” and “unity”) and the descent of
influence to the sefirot.12 Nahmanides’ other references to the secret
of sacrifice indicate that the significance of the theurgic action is to
draw influence down to the sefirot.13 Nevertheless, neither of these
meanings is magical because they lack the utilitarian factor, the idea
of direct influence on the material world. On the contrary, worship
is “a need of the Most High.” Moreover, it is clear from this pas-
sage that, for Nahmanides, theurgic action is achieved by focusing
intention on the “proper Name,” namely, the Tetragrammaton. In
other words, although the sacrifice comes from the sefirah of din, the
intention must be directed toward the sefirah of tif’eret (the Tetragram-
maton). The celebrant’s intention when offering a sacrifice is not mere
contemplation but involves a clear-cut active dimension. Once again,
such activity is unquestionably theurgic, not magical.
As indicated, the explanation in Nahmanides’ commentary on
Leviticus 1:9 differs from other passages in his commentary, where
he combines theurgy with magic-astral technique. Both models may
be found, for example, in Jacob’s sacrifices just before his “descent”
the ability to perform miracles as achieved by extending the influence of hokhmah

to din and tif’eret. The combination of Solomon’s wisdom, as mentioned in this pas-
sage—which according to Nahmanides represents magic in its purest form—and the
sefirah of hokhmah, clearly points to the magical nature of the use of influence from the
sefirot. I consider below the magical nature of the “secret of sacrifice” in Nahmanides’
writings. On Solomon’s wisdom as “the real science” see, for instance, Yitzhak Tzvi
Langermann, “Acceptance and Devaluation: Nahmanides’ Attitude toward Science,”
Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 1 (1992): 232; Dov Schwartz, Astral Magic in
Medieval Jewish Thought (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1999), 134-140. See
further Roland Goetschel, “Ehyeh asher Ehyeh in the Works of the Gerona Kabbalists”
[Hebrew], in The Beginnings of Jewish Mysticism in Medieval Europe [Hebrew], ed. Yosef
Dan (Jerusalem: Defense Ministry, 1987), 289-291.
12 This interpretation follows the passage from Sefer ha-Bahir quoted above (n.
6)
13 See Moshe Idel, Kabbalah: New Perspectives (New Haven: Yale University Press,
1988), 167. See also Michal Kushnir-Oron’s comment in her edition of Sha’ar ha-Razim
by Todros b. Joseph Abulafia (Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1989), 145.
to Egypt, which were aimed at bringing the sefirot nearer but were
at the same time a technique of ransom. “When Jacob was about to
go down to Egypt, he saw that the exile was beginning for him and
his children, and he feared it, so he offered many sacrifices to ‘the
fear of his father Isaac’ in order that divine judgment not be aimed
against him14… But on account of his fear of the Lord, Jacob offered
peace-offerings in order to bring all divine attributes into accord
towards him.”15 The concept of ransom is even more far-reaching
in Nahmanides’ interpretation of the goat dispatched to Azazel (the
scapegoat) on the Day of Atonement. According to him, the object of
this precept is to channel the destructive influence of Mars to the goat,
thereby averting its application to Israel. Thus, the goat is offered to
Mars by explicit divine command:
Now the Torah has absolutely forbidden to accept them [the angels, the
source of the power of the spheres] as deities, or to worship them in any
manner. However, the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded us that on
the Day of Atonement we should let loose a goat in the wilderness, to
that “lord” [power] which rules over wastelands, and this [goat] is fitting
for it because he is its master, and destruction and waste emanate from
that power, which in turn is the cause of the stars of the sword, wars,
quarrels, wounds, plagues, division and destruction.16 In short, it is the
spirit of the sphere of Mars,17 and its part among the nations is Esau
14 Later in the commentary, Nahmanides states: “Thus, by the merit of the sac-
rifices, the God of his father Isaac appeared to him in the visions of the night with
an ameliorated Divine attribute of Justice” (commentary on Genesis 46:1[543]).
15 Ibid. [542].
16 Compare Ibn Ezra: “Mars is hot, dry, burning, harmful and destructive, it
signifies destruction and drought and fires and rebellion and blood and slaying and
war and disputes and division” (Raphael Levy and Francisco Cantera, eds. Sefer
Reshit Hokhmah [The Beginning of Wisdom] [Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,
1939], xlvi).
17 Elsewhere, the sources of the heavenly powers are “lords who abide in the
atmosphere as the angels do in the heavens” and “the Separate Intelligences, which
are the soul of the constellations” (commentary on Exodus 20:3 [294-296]). The term
“soul of the constellations” is probably unrelated to the term “soul of the sphere,”
as the Peripatetics, for example, call the psychological motive power that moves the
spheres. More probably, the concept includes the functions of both the Separate
Intelligences and the spirituality of the stars. I discuss this subject at length in Astral
Magic. Nahmanides’ disciple Rashba notes that “the lords on high” are “the spirit
of the spheres, like the guardian angel of Esau and the other nations” (Hiddushei
Rashba: Perushei ha-Haggadot, ed. Aryeh L. Feldman [Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook,
1991], 11). Rashba uses the expression “spiritual form” for the forces moving the
spheres; see below.
62 chapter three
[Rome], the people that inherited the sword and the wars, and among
the animals [its portion consists of] the se#irim (demons) and the goats.
Also in its portion are the devils called “destroyers” in the language of
our Rabbis,18 and in the language of Scripture: se#irim (satyrs, demons),
for thus he [Esau] and his nation were called se#ir. Now the intention in
sending away the goat to the desert was not that it should be an offering
from us to it—Heaven forbid! Rather, our intention should be to fulfill
the wish of our Creator, Who commanded us to do so.19
Nahmanides was aware that the ritual of the scapegoat could be
construed as idolatry. We see, however, from the end of this passage
that he was quite content with the fact that the ritual was a result
of divine command. The difference between idolatry and such an
act is a question of intention only.20 In this connection, Nahmanides
clearly delineates the two possible ways of explaining the precept—the
magic-astral and the kabbalistic:
Thus the matter is explained, unless you pursue a further investigation
from this subject to that of the Separate Intelligences and how the spirits
[are affected by] the offerings—[the influence upon the spirits] being
known through the study of necromancy, while that of the [Separate]
Intelligences is known by means of certain allusions of the Torah to
those who understand their secrets. I cannot explain more, for I would
have to shut the mouths of those who claim to be wise in the study of
nature, following after that Greek [philosopher Aristotle] who denied
18 See TB Berakhot 3b, 8a, and so forth In the magical literature, demons are com-
monly considered to be the natural denizens of the desert, which in turn is associated
with the scapegoat. See, for instance, Edina Bozoky, “Mythic Mediation in Healing
Incantations,” in Health, Disease, and Healing in Medieval Culture, ed. Sheila Campbell,
Bert Hall and David Klausner (London: St Martin’s Press, 1992), 85-86.
19 Commentary on Leviticus 16:8 [219-220]. Nahmanides states of the red heifer:
“The purport thereof is analogous to that of the goat sent away [to Azazel], which
is to remove the spirit of impurity” (ibid., 221). For the relevant interpretation of the
fourteenth century kabbalistic supercommentators, see Henoch, Nahmanides Philosopher
and Mystic, 414-427. On the phenomenon of the goat and its association with demons
see James G. Frazer, The Golden Bough (abridged edn.), vol. 2 (New York: Avenel
Books, 1981), 182 ff.
20 This is the meaning of the parable in which a person, in the course of a ban-
quet he has made for his master, obeys the master’s command to give his servant a
share of the food, out of respect for the master. See Josef Stern, ‘The Fall and Rise
of Myth in Ritual: Maimonides versus Nahmanides on the Huqqim, Astrology, and
the War against Idolatry,” Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 6 (1997): 247-249.
On the place of this idea of Nahmanides in the fourteenth century controversy see
Dov Schwartz, “Worship of God or of a Star?: The Controversy of R. Abraham
al-Tabib and R. Solomon Franco” [Hebrew], Kabbalah: Journal for the Study of Jewish
Mystical Texts 1 (1996):” 248-249.
everything except that which could be perceived by him [through the

physical senses].21
Astral magic (“spirits”) and Kabbalah (“Intelligences”), then, have
two things in common: both explain religious worship, on two levels,
and both express a genuine ideology, in contrast to the philosophi-
cal-scientific conception, which is invalid.
The magic-astral action of sacrifice is not confined to the concept
of ransom; it extends to the positive aspect, as furthering emanation.
Commenting on the midrash, “‘To till it and tend it’ [Genesis 2:
15]—this refers to sacrifices,”22 Nahmanides writes:
The intent of the Rabbis in this interpretation is that plants and all living
beings are in need of primary forces from which they derive the power
of growth and that through the sacrifices there is an extension of the
blessing to the higher powers. From them it flows to the plants of the
Garden of Eden,23 and from them it comes and exists in the world in the
21 Commentary on Leviticus 16:8 [222]. Nahmanides defined the “spirits” in his
commentary on Exodus 20:3 [295]: “The third kind of idolatry appeared afterwards
when people began worshiping the demons which are spirits, as I will explain with
God’s help. Some of them too are appointed over the peoples to be masters in their
lands and to harm their beleaguered ones and those who have stumbled, as is known
of their activity through the art of necromancy, as well as through the words of our
Rabbis. It is with reference to this [third kind of idolatry] that Scripture says, ‘They
sacrificed to demons, no-gods, gods they had never known, new gods, who came but
lately, whom your fathers dreaded not’ [Deuteronomy 32:17]. Scripture ridicules
them [the Israelites], saying that they sacrifice also to the demons who are no gods
at all. That is to say, they are not like the angels who are called eloah. Instead, they
are gods that they had never known, meaning that they found in them no trace of
might or power of rulership. Furthermore, they are new to them, having learned only
lately to worship them from the Egyptian sorcerers, and even their wicked forefathers
such as Terah and Nimrod did not dread them at all. Of this [kind of idolatry]
Scripture warns, ‘They shall offer their sacrifices no more to the demons after whom
they stray’ [Leviticus 17:7].” In Nahmanides’ view, demons are inferior to stars. He
seems to have adopted the conception of Sefer ha-Atsamim, misattributed to Ibn Ezra,
in which the demons represent a negative, inferior type of astral spirituality. The goal
of necromancy is to bring these spirits down to earth. See Sefer ha-Atsamim [Book of
Substances], ed. Menasheh Grosberg (London: Rabinovitch, 1901), 16. According to
Nahmanides, Egyptian religion also involved astrology. See, for instance, his quotation
from The Guide of the Perplexed in his commentary on Genesis 11:28. On the association
of the Separate Intelligences with the sefirot see Assi Farber, “On the Sources of R.
Moses de Leon’s Early Kabbalistic System” [Hebrew], in Studies in Jewish Mysticism,
Philosophy and Ethical Literature, Presented to Isaiah Tishbi on His Seventy-Fifth Birthday, ed.
Yosef Dan and Yosef Hacker (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1986), 84-87.
22 Genesis Rabba 16:4 (ed. Theodor-Albeck, 149).
23 In his commentary on Genesis 3:22 [86], Nahmanides again discusses this
homily, referring to “the fruit of the tree of knowledge below and on high” as “a
64 chapter three
form of “rain of goodwill and blessing,” through which they grow. This
conforms to what the Rabbis have said: “The Trees of the Lord drink
their fill, the cedars of Lebanon, His own planting’ [Psalms 104:16]. R.
Hanina said: Their life shall have its fill; their waters shall have their
fill; their plantings shall have their fill. “Their life” refers to their higher
foundations; “their wastes” refer to His good treasure which brings down
the rain; and “their plantings” refer to their force in heaven, just as the
Rabbis have said: There is not a single blade of grass below that does
not have a constellation in heaven that smites it and says to it, “Grow.”
It is this which Scripture says, “Do you know the laws of heaven or
impose its authority (mishtarah) on earth?” [Job 38:33]—[mishtarah being
derived from the same root as] shoter (executive officer).24
The sacrificial rite, then, has an active influence on attracting (“exten-
sion”) the emanation to the sefirot (“higher foundations”) and to the
stars (“their force in heaven”) at the same time. This theurgic and
magic influence has immensely beneficial results in the material world,
for Nahmanides holds that the Garden of Eden is a material, geo-
graphic location.25 Thus, offering a sacrifice produces abundant rain,
nourishing trees and other vegetation. Elsewhere, I have shown that
Nahmanides’ portrayal of the emanation that can be drawn down
and used has two aspects: a supernal one, as the divine emanation
originating in the world of sefirot, and an inferior one, as the astral
emanation flowing from the stars. Clearly, what we have here is exactly
the same emanation, which is essentially two-dimensional.26 Theurgic
technique is therefore also magic-astral, as indicated by discussion of
the reasons for the sacrifices.
The magic-astral model in Nahmanides’ Kabbalah is further con-
solidated by the fact that he was influenced, terminologically and
otherwise, by Abraham ibn Ezra’s conception of sacrifice. In his
high and lofty” secret. That is, the earthly tree of knowledge has a counterpart in
the world of the sefirot (malkhut). Nevertheless, the heavenly status of the Garden of
Eden does not detract from its earthly-geographical meaning, which is Nahmanides’
concern in this passage. See below.
24 Commentary on Genesis 2:8 [70-71]. The homily quoted at the end of this
passage is from Genesis Rabba 10:6 (ed. Theodor-Albeck, 79). See Daniel C. Matt,
“The Mystic and the Mitsvot,” in Jewish Spirituality, vol. 1, ed. Arthur Green (London:
Crossroad, 1986), 381. Matt does not discuss the astral aspect of emanation.
25 See Havivah Pedayah, “The Spirit vs. the Concrete Land of Israel in the
Geronese School of Kabbalah” [Hebrew], inThe Land of Israel in Medieval Jewish Thought,
ed. Moshe Hallamish and Aviezer Ravitzky (Jerusalem: Yad Yitzhak Ben Zvi, 1991),
278-279; Schwartz, Messianism in Medieval Jewish Thought, 106.
26 Schwartz, Astral Magic, 134-140.
sermon Torat ha-Shem Temimah, Nahmanides presents three explana-

tions for the sacrificial rite, thus adding another explanation to those
set forth in the passage cited above from his Bible commentary (on
Leviticus 1:9):
1. The psychological explanation: “He slaughters it before his God,
signifying that it would be proper for a person to spill his blood
for his sin in this matter, and he burns the fatty parts, which are
the chambers of thought, and the kidneys, where the power of his
desire resides, as if to say that the instruments of his thought are
worthy of being burned for his sin.”27
2. The magic-astral explanation: Sacrifice is considered to be a tech-
nique of ransom, as in Ibn Ezra’s commentary on Leviticus 1:1:
“As <each> part is given, a part is saved.”
3. The theurgic explanation, which is superimposed on the magical
explanation but only by implication: “The virtues enumerated in
the sacrifices, whereby the Shekhinah inhabits the world through
Israel, and that the choicest place in the lower world is the place
of the sacrifices, which is the throne of the Lord on earth—these
things need another explanation.”28
Ibn Ezra’s magical explanation is cited here as a fitting explanation
for the sacrifice’s material influence. Nahmanides presents the need
for a further level of interpretation—the theosophical. Ibn Ezra, he
implies, failed to recognize the theosophical aspect of emanation, but
the magic-astral reasons in that enigmatic commentator’s exposition are
nevertheless “fitting and worthy of acceptance,”29 because “the precepts
of the Torah have many benefits—physical, visible, and spiritual.”
The sacrifice exerts palpable influence of two kinds: magic-astral and
theosophical. In other words, with regard to sacrifices Nahmanides
adopts Ibn Ezra’s magic-astral approach as it is—without presenting
it as “kabbalistic”30—but adds the theosophical dimension.
27 Nahmanides, Torat ha-Shem Temimah, in Kitvei ha-Ramban, vol. 1, ed. Charles D.
Chavel (Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1963), 163. See above, note 7.
28 Ibid., 164 (my emphasis).
29 Ibid. Ibn Ezra’s influence in Nahmanides’ concept of talismanic magic reaches
its peak in the latter’s commentary on the ritual of the scapegoat. See above, note
19; and see Schwartz, Astral Magic, ch. 4.
30 See Gershom Scholem, Origins of the Kabbalah (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication
Society, 1987), 387, 411. See Bernard Septimus, ‘“Open Rebuke and Concealed Love’:
Nahmanides and the Andalusian Tradition,” in Rabbi Moses Nahmanides (Ramban):
66 chapter three
In sum, Nahmanides’ view of the secret of the sacrificial rite is

dual in nature. On the one hand, the sacrifice harmonizes the world
of sefirot through the celebrant’s intention—undoubtedly a “divine
need.” On the other, the sacrifice also attracts the influence of the
sefirot and the stars, and this emanation has beneficial results from the
standpoint of material human needs. The theosophical explanation
offered by Nahmanides is similar to that of the Gerona kabbalists,
such as R. Azriel. The members of that circle did not advocate the
magic-astral explanation, however, and it is here that Nahmanides
differs from them.
A Representative Secret: Evidence of Disciples and Colleagues
Even within Nahmanides’ own lifetime, his exposition of “the secret

of sacrifice” was considered the authentic, representative kabbalistic
explanation of the sacrificial rite. His approach exerted consider-
able influence on the circles of his disciples and on their disciples,
Rashba and Ritba. Even thinkers who were not openly concerned
with Kabbalah insisted on the importance of Nahmanides’ kabbalistic
explanation of sacrifices. It seems quite clear that they preferred to
ignore the magic-astral aspect of Nahmanides’ commentary, generally
confining themselves, therefore, to the “secret” as presented in the
commentary on Leviticus 1:9.
The psychological explanation, thought not explicitly attributed to
Nahmanides, is featured in the sermons of Jonah of Gerona or his
disciple, which do not rely on Kabbalah. Discussing the reasons for
sacrifice, the author of the sermons stresses at the outset that these
reasons are valid “in addition to the great merit in [the sacrificial
rite], which depends on a great thing and a wondrous secret.”31 This
statement, as noted, introduces a discourse in which Nahmanides’
Explorations in his Religious and Literary Virtuosity,” ed. Isadore Twersky (Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Center for Jewish Studies, 1983), 11-34.
31 Shmuel Yerushalmi, Sermons and Commentaries of R. Jonah Gerondi on the Pentateuch
[Hebrew] (Jerusalem: H. Vagshal, 1988), 172. On the author of these sermons see
Israel Ta-Shma, “Ashkenazi Hasidism in Spain: R. Jonah Gerondi, The Man and His
Work” [Hebrew], in Exile and Diaspora: Studies in the History of the Jewish People Presented
to Professor Haim Beinart, ed. Aharon Mirsky et. al. (Jerusalem: Ben Zvi Institute, 1988),
188-191; idem, Ha-Nigle she-Banistar—The Halakhic Residue in the Zohar: A Contribution to
the Study of the Zohar [Hebrew] (Tel-Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuhad, 1995), 99-100.
psychological argument is cited almost verbatim, so that the author’s

“secret” is an obvious reference to Nahmanides. Clearly, then, the
“secret” was seen as a true reflection of the authentic kabbalistic
explanation within Nahmanides’ lifetime.
Other thinkers who, like Jonah of Gerona, make no reference in
their writings to Kabbalah, were also concerned with the secret of
sacrifice. The author of Sefer ha-Hinnukh, a close associate of Aaron
Halevi of Barcelona (perhaps his brother Pinehas?), Ritba’s mentor,
generally avoids kabbalistic matters. Nevertheless, after citing Nahman-
ides’ philosophical-psychological explanation of sacrifice, according to
which the offering is supposed to arouse in the sinner a comparison
of his own limbs to the burning limbs of the sacrifice, Pinehas (?)
adds: “And he [Nahmanides] wrote further that, by way of truth,
there is in the sacrifices a hidden secret and so forth, as written in
his commentaries in the portion of Leviticus.”32 On the other hand,
with regard to the rite of the scapegoat, for example, he completely
disregards Nahmanides’ explanation.
Ritba refers to Nahmanides’ attack, in the commentary cited above
(on Leviticus 1:9) on Maimonides’ rational explanation that the sac-
rifices were intended to “amend opinions” by slaughtering the very
animals worshiped by the gentiles:
And I say that the true tradition that our master … [Nahmanides] had
with regard to sacrifice is true, while the explanation of the Rabbi and
Teacher [Maimonides]… seems very weak. This caused our master… to
criticize the holy man of the Torah and the holy man of the Lord, blessed
be He, as he did in relation to the sacrifices. And my view regarding the
Rabbi and Teacher… in this explanation and in many other explanations
that he wrote for the precepts is that he did not really believe that such
was the main explanation for that precept, but he wished to give some
explanation so that even the masses would know how to reply, even to
a learned unbeliever, in somewhat rational terms.33
Ritba believed that Nahmanides intentionally employed brief, allusive
language because the earlier kabbalistic traditions were ambiguous.34
32 Sefer ha-Hinnukh, ed. Charles D. Chavel (Jerusalem; Mosad Harav Kook, 1974),
153, ll. 5-6. On the author’s identity see Israel Ta-Shma, “The Real Author of Sefer
ha-Hinnukh” [Hebrew], Kiryat Sefer 55 (1980): 787-790. Whatever his identity, he was
clearly a member of Aaron Halevi’s circle.
33 Yom Tov b. Abraham Ashbili (Ritba), Sefer ha-Zikkaron, ed. Kalman Kahana
(Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1982), 74.

34 “Indeed, the reason for sacrifice is deep, deep down, who can discover it [based
68 chapter three
Nevertheless, he himself embraces this kabbalistic tradition, stressing

that his defense of Maimonides is intended only to demonstrate the
unity of the great master’s teachings.
And to my mind there is no doubt that one will find in the words of the
Teacher… things that are not in accord with those said by the scholars
of truth or other scholars, but according to the path trodden by our
Rabbi the Teacher there is no error in that, nor way of contradiction
or opposition, for he maintained in what he said the utmost caution
and logic (hokhmat ha-higgayon).35
Ritba wholeheartedly agrees with Nahmanides’ explanation of the
secret of sacrifice at the beginning of Leviticus. Judging from the
evidence forthcoming from the schools of Jonah Gerondi, Aaron
Halevi, and Ritba, we may conclude that central figures of the time
recognized Nahmanides’ interpretation of the sacrificial rite as rep-
resentative of the authentic “secret.”
on Ecclesiastes 7:24]. And our Master, too,… his Kabbalah/tradition is difficult in

that respect, and kabbalists have therein no more than a drop out of the sea’ (ibid.).
This testimony by a “grand-student” of Nahmanides would seem to corroborate
Moshe Idel’s thesis that Nahmanides, unlike R. Azriel and R. Ezra, did not try to
establish a kabbalistic system. See Moshe Idel, “We Have No Kabbalistic Tradition
on This,” in Rabbi Moses Nahmanides (Ramban): Explorations in His Religious and Literary
Virtuosity, ed. Isadore Twersky (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Center for
Jewish Studies, 1983), 51-73; Idel, “R. Moshe ben Nahman,” 535-580.
35 Ashbili, Sefer ha-Zikkaron, 75. Compare his statements elsewhere: “If indeed
the Rabbi [Maimonides] did not set his heart in certain matters, expounded in his
book, in accord with the path of the scholars of truth, whose words are strong and
firm, and those matters are ancient. Nevertheless, he did much to innovate truthful
sayings with much wisdom and logic, for there are seventy aspects to the Torah; and
his reward will be commensurate with his intention…” (ibid., 46); “All this have I
written to excuse the Rabbi and Teacher…, while I know that the tradition of our
Master Nahmanides… in the matter of sin is a true tradition, and should not be
challenged, nevertheless, there are seventy aspects to the Torah and all [different
views] are the words of the living God” (ibid., 84). Ritba admits that Nahmanides’
tradition was superior to Maimonides’ teaching (“In truth, the words of our last Rabbi
are essentially superior” (ibid., 49). On the background of these ideas among Rashba
and his disciples see Dov Schwartz, “Conservatism vs. Rationality (The Philosophi-
cal Thought of Rashba’s Circle)”[Hebrew], Da#at 33-34 (1994): 143-182. On Ritba’s
rational approach, see ibid., 149-150, 175.
The Split within the Circle of Nahmanides’ Interpreters
The Theurgic Model

Besides their frequent allusions to Nahmanides’ doctrine of sacrifice,
his kabbalistic interpreters offered detailed explanations of the “secret.”
Among Nahmanides’ disciples, the two aspects of the action of sacri-
fice were internalized by the circles of Rashba and Ritba.36 All these
thinkers presented an activist conception of the motive for the sacri-
ficial rite. Some, however, singled out the theurgic aspect—fertilizing
the sefirot with emanations—while others emphasized the magic-astral
meanings of this action. Indeed, interpreters who concentrated on the
effect of sacrifice in the theosophical world could not ignore Nahman-
ides’ explanation of the scapegoat ritual or the traditions relating to
Balaam’s actions. In his explanation of the scapegoat, for example,
Nahmanides explicitly names Mars as the source of the emanation. The
theosophical interpreters, however, insist that this astral emanation is
negative, and that the goat was essentially a ransom [kofer] to neutral-
ize the emanation. So too Balaam’s actions, which combined theurgy
and astral magic, were confined to the negative aspect. On the other
hand, when they explain the positive action of sacrifice, they make no
reference to the magic-astral technique. In their view, the sole direct
action of sacrifice is to nourish the world of sefirot. Another group of
interpreters, however, believed that sacrifice was also an instrument
for attracting spirituality down to the terrestrial world.
We begin with the theurgic interpretation of Nahmanides’ secret of
sacrifice. Briefly: the act of sacrifice consists in bringing down emanation
from the upper to the lower sefirot, thus harmonizing the divine world.
The most typical representatives of this approach, which ignores the
magic-astral aspect and its immediate beneficial effect, were Bahya b.
Asher, Jacob Sikili, and Isaac of Acre. For Bahya b. Asher, a sacrifice
36 The thought of Nahmanides’ interpreters, as a group, still lacks thorough inves-
tigation. See Wolfson, “The Secret of the Garment”; Moshe Idel, “An Unknown
Commentary to the Secrets of Nahmanides” [Hebrew], Da#at 2-3 (1978): 121-126. For
an account of the exegetical characteristics of this circle see Daniel Abrams, “Oral-
ity in the Kabbalistic School of Nahmanides: Preserving and Interpreting Esoteric
Traditions and Texts,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 3 (1996): 85-102; for a penetrating study
of the teachings of one of the most important interpreters of Nahmanides’ esoteric
teachings, see Moshe Idel, R. Menahem Recanati the Kabbalist [Hebrew](Jerusalem and
Tel-Aviv: Schocken, 1998).
70 chapter three
attracts emanation to the sefirot in various ways, some of which do

not occur in Nahmanides’ writings (Ensof → hokhmah → din → tif "eret
→ malkhut).37 Bahya quotes Nahmanides in paraphrase, interpolating
his own comments:
In kabbalistic terms, I say that the sacrifice is unification, this being the
connotation of the word qorban (sacrifice), that is to say, bringing near
(qeruv) the forces38 and the names of the Holy One, blessed be He, and
anyone who brings the Names near himself is unifying… That is why
He said “odor,” that is to say, drawing the will and the descending
emanation to the Lord, that is to say, to the divine attribute of mercy
(rahamim). And that is the meaning of the expression “a pleasing odor
[reah nihoah] to the Lord,” from the same root as ‘nahah (there rests) the
spirit of Elijah on Elisha” [2 Kings 2:15]. So shall the Supreme Spirit
rest and descend to the divine attribute of mercy, which is the very
existence of the world. And that is the explanation of the words “a
burnt offering, a pleasing odor to the Lord,” for first it is necessary to
offer a fire offering to the Lord, and odor is the drawing down from
above to the Lord.39
37 In his commentary on Leviticus 1:9, following Nahmanides’ comments on the
word isheh, Bahya states that the emanation flows from din: “The glory [tif’eret] absorbs
from fear and both are called burnt-offerings [ishim]” (R. Bahya, Be’ur al ha-Torah, vol.
2, ed. Charles D. Chavel [Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1981), 401). See Ephraim
Gottlieb, The Kabbalah in the Writings of R. Bahya ben Asher ibn Halawa (Jerusalem: Kiryat
Sefer, 1970), 221. In his writings, however, Bahya considers emanation from a wide
variety of sources. In his commentary on Genesis 8:20, Bahya describes sacrifices as
promoting the ascent and descent of divine influence. The celebrant brings about
a gradual unification “from below to above” and the influence descends: “Noah in
his offerings arranged the structure from below to above, the altar [malkhut] first
and thence to rahamim [mercy], that is the meaning of the phrase ‘to the Lord,’ and
from rahamim everything ascends and attaches itself to the supreme level, which is
the Prime Mover, blessed be He [Ensof]… And then the influence returns from the
Mover to rahamim, and from rahamim to the altar, which is called ‘Heart,’ and from
that to the upper and lower worlds’’ (Bahya, Be’ur al ha-Torah, 1:117). See Gottlieb,
The Kabbalah in the Writings of R. Bahya, 230-232. It follows that the sacrifice is directed
at Ensof, in such a way that the appeal to Ensof becomes to some extent personal.
Finally, in his commentary on Numbers 6:27 Bahyei writes: “The main intent in
the sacrifice is to attract will from pure thought [hokhmah] to His Supreme Names”
(Be’ur al ha-Torah, 3:33).
38 Sacrifice as “bringing near,” in the style of Sefer ha-Bahir, is a common motif in
Bahya’s writings. See his commentary on Numbers 7:10 (Be’ur al ha-Torah 2:38); Kad
ha-Qemah, s.v. atseret (Kitvei Rabbenu Bahyei, ed. Charles D. Chavel [Jerusalem: Mosad
Harav Kook, 1960], 292).
39 Commentary on Leviticus 1:9 (Be’ur al ha-Torah 2:401).
In sum: “Each and every divine attribute draws its nourishment

from the sacrifice, that is to say: the Supreme Spirit is attracted to
and placed upon the divine attributes and the attributes are brought
near to it, and that is unification.”40 Bahya indeed emphasizes that
the act of sacrifice has a beneficial effect on the denizens of the ter-
restrial world as well; nevertheless, the celebrant’s primary interest
is the divine world. Note that Bahya emphasizes the theurgic aspect
and ignores the magic implications of Nahmanides’ comments, in
part because he was influenced by Azriel’s work on the secret of
sacrifice, and interprets Nahmanides’ intentions accordingly.41 The
theurgic interpretation, in its purest possible form, is briefly mentioned
in comments by a disciple of Rashba [?] quoted by Isaac of Acre,42
and in the words of Isaac of Acre himself,43 referring to the bringing
near of malkhut and tif’eret (“to raise the atarah to the rahamim”). Note
below that Isaac cites traditions of a different nature in his book,
but the interpretations he offers in his own name are confined to
the theurgic aspect.
Jacob Sikili, Rashba’s disciple, followed in Nahmanides’ footsteps
concerning the dual conception of emanation from the supernal world:
theosophical and astral emanation. He did not, however, go so far
as to adopt a magic-astral model in the technical sense, that is, to
propose that the sacrificial rite attracts emanation. At the start of his
discussion of the reasons for sacrifice, he declares that the material
existence of the world depends on “attracting divine influence to all
created beings.” To explain this principle, he cites a midrash with an
explicitly astrological context:
40 Ibid., 402.
41 See Gottlieb, The Kabbalah in the Writings of R. Bahya, 77-79. On the theurgic
thrust of the “secret of sacrifice” in Geronese Kabbalah see Yeshayahu Tishbi, ed., The
Wisdom of the Zohar [Hebrew], vol. 2 (Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1975), 196-198.
42 Goldreich, Sefer Me’irat Eynayim, 137, ll. 23-26. These comments refer to the
goat sacrificed on the New Moon in particular, but also to sacrifices in general.
Isaac cites an otherwise anonymous authority “‘R.Sh.N.R.” as transmitting a tradi-
tion “according to the way of Nahmanides’ Kabbalah/tradition.” On the identity of
“R.Sh.N.R.” see ibid., 389-390. On the astrological interpretive tradition concerning
the goat see Ibn Ezra, Sefer ha-Ibbur (Lyck, 1874), 5b.
43 For example: “The Rabbi’s whole intention is to hint that the essence of
sacrifice is to bring the #atarah near to tif’eret’ (Goldreich, Sefer Me’irat Eynayim, 149 ll.
26-27); “Know that the rabbi said so to allude to the secret of the action of sacrifice
in general, because after explaining its secret he alluded to its utility, for through the
sacrifice rahamim comes to the atarah” (ibid., p. 150 ll. 6-7).
72 chapter three
Everything that exists in the lower world—its foundation and essence

are in the upper worlds and from there it is nourished and grows and
multiplies. As our rabbis taught: “Do you know the laws of heaven or
impose its authority on earth? [Job 38:33]—There is not a single blade
of grass on earth that does not have a guardian angel in heaven that
smites it and says to it, ‘Grow.’”44 This smiting and saying is the power
that the supernal elements confer upon the lower creatures, and this
power is the divine influence that they receive from the Prime Mover,
and from it they [the supernal elements] radiate it to what is below
them. And this influence flows constantly, without interruption, from
the Lord, blessed be He, onto the Separate Intelligences, and that is
what is called “A river of fire streamed forth before Him” [Daniel 7:
10]. From the Separate Intelligences it emanates and flows onto the
spheres and the stars, and their existence and constant movement stem
from that emanation, and from here it flows and emanates onto the
four elements and all created beings. It follows that the existence of
all Creation derives from the divine supernal influence, as it is written,
“And you keep them all alive” [Nehemiah 9:6].45
Sikili draws up an elementary cosmological plan, whereby the ema-
nation reaching the terrestrial world derives from Ensof (“the Prime
Mover”), descending through the theosophical world to the world of
the celestial bodies and the terrestrial world. The use of the midrash,
with whose original astrological meaning Sikili was surely acquainted,
indicates the dual or hierarchical structure of the descending influence
as it traverses the world of celestial bodies (Ensof, sefirot [Intelligences],
spheres, stars and the lower world). Sikili adds that the secret of sacri-
fice is “to radiate the blessing to all creatures, to make their existence
successful and perfected.”46 The theurgic aspect is evident from the
following description of the action of sacrifice:
What is that action that the lowly creatures perform, from which
the Separate Intelligences partake and benefit, and the upper worlds
are attracted to the lower to radiate them with divine influence, as is
worthy and proper?—[That action] is the sacrificial rite, performed
for the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, which is of benefit to
44Genesis Rabba 10:6 (ed. Theodor-Albeck, 79); the original version is cited several
times in Nahmanides’ commentary: on Genesis 1:11; on Genesis 2:8 (cited above,
n. 24), and on Leviticus 19:19. Sikili briefly quotes Nahmanides’ explanation of the
scapegoat ritual, referring there to Mars as the source of the influence and as parallel
to “the lords on high” (Jacob Sikili, Torat ha-Minhah, ed. Barukh Avigdor Hefetz, vol.
2 [Safed: n. p., 1991], 2:719).
45 Ibid., 2:506.
46 Ibid., 2:507. See also 1: 270.
the Separate Intelligences, as it is said: “My offering, my food for my

offerings by fire”—“offerings by fire” are the lords on high;47 therefore
it is called “a continual burnt offering,” for it ensures the continuation
of the universe.48
In this passage, as in the previous one, Sikili’s usage of “Separate
Intelligences” in the theosophical sense of the sefirot is also indicative
of the structure of the influence. In peripatetic science, the Separate
Intelligences are the movers of the spheres, and the influence they
emanate traverses the spheres in a variety of ways. Hence the action
of a sacrifice, in bringing the sefirot nearer, necessarily results in draw-
ing their influence down to the terrestrial world; the descent of the
influence, however, is not a consequence of terrestrial preparation
attracting supernal forces, as in the magic-astral model, but of the
unification of the sefirot by theurgic action. “When the lowly creatures
perform something for the benefit of the Separate Intelligences, the
latter bestow upon the former some of the divine influence that they
have received, as is required to perfect their existence and to ensure
them of complete success.”49 Although Sikili, as noted, is aware of the
possible marriage of the theosophical and astral aspects of emanation,
he still proposes a theurgic interpretation of the secret of sacrifice.
The Magic-Astral Model

We now turn to those of Nahmanides’ kabbalistic interpreters who
linked the magic-astral and theurgic models in their explanations of
the secret of sacrifice. Isaac of Acre, in his book Me"irat Einayim, cites
an otherwise unnamed author, M.R.D.C.Y., probably David Cohen,
a disciple of Nahmanides who injects a magic-astral element into the
reason for sacrifices. He begins with a question: How do the base
terrestrial actions of the sacrifice bring about unification in the divine
world and draw down divine influence to the lower world (“bless-
ing and being to all of existence”)? The answer is couched in terms
of a parable: A child who is reared far from human society cannot
believe, upon becoming a member of society, that the creation of a
newborn baby is a consequence of base, sexual activity. So too the
47As stated above in notes 17 and 44, the “lords on high” are the sefirot. See
Nahmanides’ commentary on Numbers 11:16. See further, Zohar 2:18b.
48 Ibid., 2:507.
49 Ibid., 2:506-507.
74 chapter three
sacrifice and its appurtenances constitute preparation for supernal

activities and for attracting the influence of the sefirot to the terres-
trial world. For example, “The smoke of the sacrifices is a cause for
attracting the influence of blessing and life and goodwill to the lower
world from the supernal world.”50 This tradition is important in that
it confirms the magic-astral orientation of the reason for sacrifice in
Nahmanides’ school.
Further confirmation comes from a tradition cited in the name
of another Nahmanides disciple, Isaac Todros, in one of the earliest
supercommentaries on Nahmanides’ mystical teachings, Keter Shem
Tov by Shem Tov ibn Gaon. Shem Tov himself presents a theurgic
approach, with hints of a magic-astral interpretive tradition. In his
supercommentary to Nahmanides’ commentary on Leviticus 1:9,
Shem Tov maintains the theurgic framework, while emphasizing the
beneficial material effect due to the balance achieved in the world of
the sefirot. He explains at length that “the unification of the absolute,
real Name” causes “blessing and life to be drawn to the lower world.”51
He explains Nahmanides’ comment on the verse “the spirit rested
upon them” (Numbers 11:25) as follows: “The matter alludes to the
reception of influence and blessing, for when the divine attributes are
conjoined,52 blessing comes to the world.”53
Shem Tov attributes Nahmanides’ concealment of the reason
for the sacrificial rite to the anti-philosophical polemic of his Torah
commentary: “For I am not permitted to explain and to reconcile
the different opinions because of the opinion of the Greek [Aristo-
tle], for the Greek opposes whatever is not perceived by his physical
senses, and he holds that no spiritual benefit may be derived from a
50Goldreich, Sefer Me’irat Eynayim, 143, ll. 20-21. On the identity of “M.R.D.C.Y.”
see ibid., 361-364; Idel, “Kabbalah, Halakhah, and Spiritual Leadership,” 572. For a
few preliminary remarks on Isaac of Acre’s attitude to magic in general see Moshe Idel,
“Judaism, Jewish Mysticism and Magic” [Hebrew], Jewish Studies 36 (1996): 34-37.
51 Keter Shem Tov, printed in Judah Koriat, Ma’or va-Shemesh (Leghorn: E. M.
Atulingi, 1839), 41a; Ms. Paris 774, 97b.

52 Koriat, who published Shem Tov’s commentary with his own glosses, places
special emphasis on the conjoining of tif’eret and malkhut, which he calls du parzufin,
following TB Berakhot 61a. See also Nahmanides’ commentary on Genesis 2:18. See,
for instance, Ma’or va-Shemesh, 30a, 32b, 45a. See Goldreich, Me’irat Eynayim, 26, l. 8;
Idel, Kabbalah: New Perspectives, 128-136; Wolfson, “The Secret of the Garment,” xl.
53 Ma’or va-Shemesh, 41b; Ms. Paris, 98a.
sacrifice.”54 The sacrifices were intended, therefore, to cause “benefit”

in the world of the sefirot. In this comment, Shem Tov is hinting that
the full explanation of sacrifice will be achieved by adding the magic-
astral aspect of the act of sacrifice. He refers the reader to “what I
have hinted in relation to Manoah” and to Nahmanides’ explanation
of the scapegoat, discussed above. Shem Tov’s allusion to Manoah
probably refers to his explanation of the text in Genesis 18, where he
quotes Isaac Todros:
The garment55— [If the master said that he cannot explain, who shall
explain?! But] I received his [Nahmanides’] opinion from my teacher
R. I[saac] T[odros],56 may God protect and bless him, [and that is the
matter that I saw first], one makes [that] effigy of wax,57 and dresses it
in a garment as a mark of respect, and adjures it, and one sees a vision
of an angel and a speaking of the Name; and the intention is that atarah
is called angel; the word “angel” here alludes to this [attribute, meaning
the Shekhinah] and the name of God [the Tetragrammaton] to tif’eret. As
to the matter of [the angel’s] departure,58 [concerning that] he did not
54 Ibid. Nahmanides’ style in his commentary to Leviticus 16:8 (quoted above,

at n. 20) is similar.
55 This is a commentary on the following passage from Nahmanides’ commentary
on Genesis 18:1 [231]: “But where Scripture mentions the angels as men, as is the
case in this portion, and the portion concerning Lot—likewise, ‘And a man wrestled
with him’ [Genesis 32:25] and ‘a man came upon him’ [ibid. 37:15], in the opinion
of our rabbis—in all these cases there was a special glory created in the angels, called
among those who know the mysteries of the Torah ‘a garment,’ perceptible to the
human vision of such pure persons as the pious and the disciples of the prophets,
and I cannot explain any further.” On the secret of the garment in the writings of
Nahmanides and his interpreters, see Gershom Scholem, “The Garment of the Souls
and ‘the Tunic of the Rabbis”’ [Hebrew], Tarbiz 24 (1955): 291-297; Moshe Idel,
“The World of the Angels in Human Form” [Hebrew], in Studies in Jewish Mysticism,
Philosophy and Ethical Literature, Presented to Isaiah Tishbi on His Seventy-Fifth Birthday,
ed. Yosef Dan and Yosef Hacker (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1986), 46-47; Wolfson, “The
Secret of the Garment.”
56 On Isaac Todros see Ephraim Gottlieb, Studies in the Kabbalah Literature, ed.
Joseph Hacker (Tel-Aviv: Tel-Aviv University Press, 1976), 290; Idel, “Kabbalah,
Halakhah and Spiritual Leadership,” 572. The text in Ms. Paris reads only “my
pious teacher, may God protect him,” without specifying any name.
57 The printed edition adds: “That is: an effigy of wax directions [?] and not
an angel.” It is interesting that Shem Tov is writing at the time of the astral magic
controversy. Abba Mari, who led the opponents of astral magic, cites a rumor about a
work describing the burning of “myrrh or wax.” See Joseph Shatzmiller, “In Search
of the Book of Figures: Medicine and Astrology in Montpellier at the Turn of the
Fourteenth Century,” AJS Review 7/8 (1982/1983), 394. See further in the next
section below.
58 Comment on Nahmanides’ observation: “The matter of [the angel’s] ‘disap-
76 chapter three
give [me] permission [to hint]; but know that the fire that came down
upon it was extinguished on its own. And the allusion in the matter of
Manoah when the second angel ascended in the flame of the altar, and
if you understand the secret of the altar, you will understand the angel.
And if you understand the flame of the altar that came down you will
understand kol and its fire, and the merit of the angel therein.59
The tradition cited here by Shem Tov in the name of Isaac Todros
describes spirituality being brought down to a wax effigy. The spiri-
tuality, whose source is in the sefirot, is revealed as an angel; that is to
say, one can draw down the influence of the sefirot of din and malkhut,
which, according to the above passage, is alluded to by the word
“angel.” The association with Manoah indicates that the secret of
sacrifice involves bringing down emanation or ameliorating the influ-
ence of negative emanation by offering a sacrifice. Judah Koriat, who
published Shem Tov’s work, understood Shem Tov’s teaching as based
on the assumption that the stars’ power derives from the sefirot. Com-
menting on Shem Tov’s statement “when peace [tif’eret] is conjoined
with the earth [malkhut], there will be a truly perfect dominion, so that
the juncture will be perfect,” Koriat writes that malkhut “can give the
sun power to promote growth in hot and dry things.”60 Accordingly,
it seems natural to explain peace offerings as causing the celebrants
to be deriving “benefit from their constellation.”61
We now consider Rashba’s disciples. Isaac of Acre cites a tradition
that he had heard from an anonymous kabbalist concerning a Gentile
“great scholar,” who considered the action of sacrifice proof of the
profundity and truth of the commandments of the Torah.
Said the Gentile to the Jew: I see indeed that your God is a God of
truth and your Torah a teaching of truth and the actions of your ances-
tors the prophets of truth and your priests in the rite of your temple,
that is, the sacrificial rite, truth. For… the supreme powers (kohot elyon),
although everything is in His hands, need something to draw them down
to nourish the lower worlds, with sacrifices and with prayer and with
pleasant song and with pure, chaste intention of the heart, conjoined
pearance’ you will understand from the account about Manoah, if you will be worthy
to attain it” (on Genesis 18:1[231]).
59 Ma’or va-Shemesh, 30b. This passage is discussed by Wolfson, who does not,
however, discuss the magic-astral context (“Secret of the Garment,” xliii-xliv).

60 Ma’or va-Shemesh, 28b (on Nahmanides’ commentary to Genesis 1:14); Ms. Paris,
78b. Shem Tov is referring to the unification of the sefirot of yesod and malkhut.
61 Ibid., 32b.
with the supernal worlds, for the Lord, blessed be He, gave man power
to do as he pleases, and according to his actions so does he attract
supreme power (koah elyon) to himself; if by good deeds, he will attract
the power of good, and if the contrary—the contrary; everything is in
man’s hand…62
In both style and content, the statement of the anonymous kabbalist
presents unmistakable traits of the magic-astral explanation of sacrifice.
The purpose of the sacrifice is to “attract supreme power.” Similarly,
the act of offering sacrifice is not a purely defensive act (“ransom”) but
also an expression of the magician’s unlimited power (“everything is in
man’s hand”). The terminology “attraction of supreme power” occurs
in an astrological and theosophical context elsewhere, in a commentary
attributed to Meir ibn Sahula, but most probably written by Joshua
ibn Shu#eib.63 One principle enunciated in this commentary is that
“with regard to any medication of which a person knows nothing,
its power and merit become known when its benefit is seen. So too
with regard to sacrifices, the benefit is apparent in several places; for
example, only through the sacrificial rite did the Shekhinah dwell in
the Tabernacle.”64 That is why Balaam made efforts “to be conjoined
62 Goldreich, Sefer Me’irat Eynayim, 143, ll. 26-33.

63 “Although it is accepted by those who receive the truth that the created
beings of this world are descended from on high, and there is no created being that
does not have some power on high, as our Sages said, ‘There is not a single blade
of grass below that does not have a constellation in heaven that smites it and says
to it, ‘Grow’ (Genesis Rabba 10:6)… Now, in the Merkavah Ezekiel saw the face
of a man, the face of an ox, the face of a lion, the face of an eagle, which are the
essence of the things that we have mentioned, meaning each species receives from
the Lord through a star or a constellation, and man attracts a supreme power,
innermost of all, and his soul is the wisest and purest, for it did not come through
some intermediary as the other things evolved, but was emanated from a supreme
one of them’ (Be’ur le-Ferush Ramban al ha-Torah [Warsaw, 1875], 4c). This passage
clearly states that the emanation of theosophical influence parallels the descent of
astral influence, and the difference is only one of level and rank. The association
with Ma#aseh Merkavah is explicit in Nahmanides’ assertion that the Tabernacle, the
Temple and their implements are intended “to understand the secrets of the action
of the supernal, middle, and lower worlds, and hints of all the Merkavah are there”
(Kitvei Ramban, ed. Chavel, 2: 296).
64 Be’ur le-Ferush Ramban, 25a. The author of this super-commentary has this to
say about the cherubim: “The reason that the cherubim in the Tabernacle and in the
Temple have their wings spread out above is to receive the emanation’ (ibid., 18d).
Compare Ibn Shu#eib in his sermons: “The Shekhinah did not dwell in the Tabernacle
and in the Temple, but on the sacrifice”; “the power of the deity is brought down
through sacrifice and removes itself through the secret of sacrifice” (Derashot R. Y. ibn
Shu#eib, ed. Zeev Metzger [Jerusalem: Lev Sameah Institute, 1992], 1:193 and 195).
78 chapter three
with the will, that is, the altar, and perhaps [the Lord] would come
to meet him through these offerings.”65
Finally, other kabbalists who gave Nahmanides’ esoteric teachings
an essential place in their writings, though they did not write super-
commentaries on him, also alluded to the magic-astral explanation of
the sacrificial rite. Menahem Recanati interprets a certain midrashic
passage concerning the descent of the Shekhinah as a framework for
explaining sacrifice,66 while the author of Ma#arekhet ha-Elohut uses the
term “form” (tzurah) as both a symbol and an image with the capac-
ity to draw down supreme powers.67 Clearly, then, certain authentic
traditions of Nahmanides’ disciples based the secret of sacrifices on the
magic-astral nature of their action, and these traditions were preserved
among his kabbalistic interpreters. As noted, such authentic traditions
coexisted with the “overt” theurgic exegesis, which considered the
These statements appear after Ibn Shu#eib’s account of Ibn Ezra’s notion of ransom,
following Nahmanides’ Torat ha-Shem Temimah sermon; he then refers to Judah Halevi’s
comparison of the action of sacrifice to the soul’s descent into the body (The Kuzari 2:
26). The fact that Ibn Shu#eib follows Nahmanides’ text and opens his sermon with
the ransom technique indicates that he was concerned not with unaided descent of
the influence (theosophy) but with descent brought about by human action (magic).
See Carmi Horowitz, The Jewish Sermon in 14th Century Spain: The Derashot of R. Joshua
ibn Shu#eib (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Center for Jewish Studies, 1989),
101 n. 62. In his sermons, Ibn Shu#eib avoids an in-depth discussion of the kabbalistic
significance of sacrifice.
65 Be’ur le-Ferush Ramban, 30c. According to this explanation, Balaam attempted
to draw the influence of the sefirot of hokhmah and malkhut down to the sacrifice, by
offering sacrifices “commensurate with the whole building.” The utilitarian interest
is also expressed in the statement that “the supernal and lower worlds and the souls
of those offering the sacrifice derive benefit” from it (ibid., 13c).
66 “In the text, ‘Noah built an altar to the Lord’ (Genesis 8:20), there is an allusion
to a weighty matter alluded to by our sages, that because of Adam’s sin the Shekhinah
departed from the lower worlds; then came Seth and restored it, then came Enosh
and removed it, and so forth, and now there came Noah and brought it down and
prepared a place for it below” (Genesis Rabba 19:7; Songs Rabba 5:1; Tanhuma Pequddei 6
[using the verb “to attract” rather than “bring down”]; Pesiqta de-R. Kahana 1:1; Perush
Recanati al ha-Torah, 19c-d). See Gershom Scholem, On the Kabbalah and its Symbolism,
trans. Ralph Manheim (New York: Schocken Books, 1965), 269-271; Idel, Kabbalah:
New Perspectives, 166-167. Recanati hints at the magical nature of the sacrifice in his
commentary, 48, s.v. va-yishlah. See Idel, R. Menahem Recanati, 139.
67 Ma#arekhet ha-Elohut (Mantua: 1548), 95b. See Abraham Elkayyam, “‘Refer-
entialism vs. Implementation: Two Approaches to Understanding the Kabbalistic

Symbol in the Book Ma#arekhet ha-Elohut” [Hebrew], Da#at 24 (19901): 30-31; idem,
“On the Architectural Structure of the Book Ma#arekhet ha-Elohut” [Hebrew], Kiryat
Sefer 64/1 (1992/93): 300 ff.
action of the sacrifices to be founded on the unification and fertiliza-

tion of the sefirot.
Astral Magic in the Writings of Rashba and Ritba
Nahmanides’ disciples and “grand-disciples” maintained, as noted,

the theurgic and magic-astral interpretations of the sacrificial rite.
This phenomenon should be contrasted with the deafening silence on
this count of two important thinkers of Nahmanides’ circle—Rashba
and his disciple Ritba, who dealt with philosophy and Kabbalah only
orally. The overwhelming bulk of their written opus consists of hal-
akhic commentary on the Babylonian Talmud. Interestingly, both
these thinkers say nothing of either the rich kabbalistic traditions
they possessed or of the magic-astral conceptions so common in their
immediate circles, as we have already shown at length. Presumably,
they considered astral magic to be a branch of esoteric lore, as it was
in the teachings of Judah Halevi and Abraham ibn Ezra, two scholars
who exerted a decisive influence on Nahmanides. Nevertheless, one
can detect in the halakhic writings of both Rashba and Ritba allusions
and implicit approaches that at times testify to certain philosophical
or kabbalistic traditions in their teachings. The sovereignty of the
celestial system, and in particular the possibility of overcoming that
sovereignty, plays a central part in Rashba’s commentary on Aggadah,
while Ritba relies on it in his commentaries both on the Talmud and
on the Passover Haggadah. Unfortunately, Ritba’s book of sermons,
of whose existence we know, for example, from the evidence of his
disciple Isaac Canpanton, is not available. For our purposes, we can
state the following:
1. Both Rashba and Ritba recognize astrology as a primary element
and use it in their commentaries on Aggadah.
2. Both of them recognize the validity of certain forms of magic,
unlike, say, Maimonides.
3. While Rashba does not conceal his recognition of astral magic,
Ritba prefers not to treat the topic openly.
Let us start with Rashba’s clearly enunciated and reasoned halakhic
approach. As to the exploitation of astral powers, we can state, based
on responsa concerning astral magic preserved in Abba Mari Astruc’s
work Minhat Qena’ot, that Rashba acknowledged the reality of spirituality
brought down upon amulets. Rashba states that before the eruption
80 chapter three
of the anti-philosophical controversy he himself had unhesitatingly

permitted the fashioning of effigies for medical purposes, and even
during the controversy refused to issue an absolute ban on the medical
use of astral magic.68 As against Maimonides’ approach, Rashba points
out that both Talmuds contain an abundance of magical material that
violates no religious precept. Moreover, Rashba accuses opponents
of sorcery of denying the possibility of miracles.69 To support his
recognition that spirituality may descend upon amulets, he writes:
And I say that it was the kindness of the Supreme Being at the start of
Creation to create in his world things that would ensure the health of
the created beings, that if the existents happen to fall ill or for any other
reason deviate from their natural perfection, these [things] are ready to
restore them to their realm or to make them healthy. And He placed
these forces in the essence of things found in nature, as may be attained
by study, such as medications and aids known to scholars of medicine,
or in nature based on properties but not attainable by study… And it
is not impossible that such a power should also be in speech, as in the
case of amulets and similar things.70
Whether such actions are permissible or not depends, according to
Rashba, on the magician’s real intention, that is, on his recognition of
God as the primary cause of recovery.71 Clearly, therefore, Rashba’s
legitimization of magic-astral acts relates exclusively to the medical
realm. Although his opponent Abba Mari claims, “all scholars are
unanimously inclined toward prohibition,”72 Rashba unhesitatingly
68 “And I permitted it, for I said that I do not see any prohibition in fashioning
an effigy for medical purposes… At any rate, I do not see fit to impose an absolute
prohibition on all effigies and all seasons and all deeds and all utterances in any
way” (Minhat Qena’ot, printed in Rashba’s Responsa, I/1, ed. Hayyim Z. Dimitrovsky
[Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1990], 282, ll. 10-11, 283, ll. 26-28). Rashba agreed
to prohibit only the burning of incense that accompanied the bringing down of
spirituality (ibid., ll. 34-35).
69 Ibid., 296, l. 196; 297, l. 195.
70 Ibid., 297, l. 205; 298, l. 214. Compare the following passage: “This permission
covers everything that has been said to be for medical purposes, whether through the
action of an object or the action of speech and influence’ (ibid., 302, ll. 268-269).
71 “It is possible that [the permission] extends even to [fixing an appointed] time
and hours, as long as one makes the effigy for medical purposes and directs’ one’s
intent toward heaven, unlike those who direct their intent to the lord who is ruling
that day, for that is as if one were worshiping him” (ibid., 302, l. 270; 203, l. 272).
See also ibid., 304, l. 286 (“diverting one’s attention from heaven”).
72 Ibid., 319, l. 118. Abba Mari was also referring to R. Isaac b. Judah de Lattes,
who made such an effigy. Although Lattes agreed that this was, strictly speaking,
permits investing an amulet with spirituality for medical purposes. His

response to the lengthy arguments adduced by Abba Mari against
permitting astral magic even for medical ends is brief: Abba Mari,
he writes, did not understand the sources properly, and especially
not Maimonides.73
Rashba may even have extended the theological limits of astral
magic. A responsum ascribed to him legitimizes astral worship outside
the Land of Israel:
For the Lord, blessed be He, divided the lands among the constellations
and gave them dominion over the earth, so that a certain star will control
a certain place, and so the different countries and places are divided
in their faiths, one worshiping a certain image and one worshiping
another, and whoever worships the star that controls that place is not
considered an idolater, provided that he knows and realizes that that
star and its dominion derive exclusively from the Lord, blessed be He,
who gave it the ability to rule that land;74 as it is said with regard to
the Cutheans [Samaritans]: “They worshiped the Lord, while serving
their own gods” [2 Kings 17:33]. But as to ourselves, He singled us out
as his own portion, also singling out our land for his Name so that his
Temple should be there, and commanded us not to worship any star
or constellation at all and not to direct any of our actions toward them
in any way; rather, we worship him and He answers whenever we call
upon him; and whosoever worships someone else, that will be considered
a great sin for him, as if he had rebelled against [God’s] kingship and
worshiped idols, Heaven forbid.75
forbidden, he relied on Nahmanides’ more lenient view. See Joseph Shatzmiller,

“The Forms of the Twelve Constellations: A Fourteenth Century Controversy,” in
Shlomo Pines Jubilee Volume: On the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, ed. Moshe Idel,
Warren Zeev Harvey and Eliezer Schweid (Jerusalem: Jerusalem Studies in Jewish
Thought, 1988), 2: 398.
73 Minhat Qena’ot, 347-348.
74 In his Perushei ha-Haggadot, Rashba argued that “the prophets of Baal, though
fools, did not contest the knowledge of the Creator, blessed be He, that He is the
Ultimate Cause and everything flows from Him…, they only thought to exalt Him by
denying the fact of Divine Providence… They thought that He… gave His world to
rulers who would lead the world and He made them owners of the world, and they
are the spheres and their constellations and their spiritual form, as it is written, ‘those
who made offerings to Baal, to the sun and moon and constellations—all the host
of heaven’ [2 Kings 23:5],” 8. If this responsum was indeed written by Rashba, he
has concealed his authentic view of the legitimacy of astral worship outside the Holy
Land. In any case, nowhere does Rashba doubt the efficacy of the use of effigies.
75 Perushei ha-Haggadot, 145. I have compared the text to that of Joseph Perles, R.
Solomon b. Abraham b. Adereth: sein Leben und seine Schriften (Breslau: Schletter, 1863). This
responsum also appears in Dimitrovsky’s edition of the Responsa, I/1, 216, ll. 59-60.
82 chapter three
The author of the responsum presents a typical Hermetic approach,

whereby religious worship operates in parallel with astrology and
astral magic. Such an antinomian approach, permitting the worship
of a star in its proper climate and place, is in line with the views of
fourteenth-century rationalists, who ascribed reality to astral magic
and actually assigned it a central place in their theology. Nevertheless,
in contrast to those rationalists, Rashba recognized several different
modes of magic (magic spells, adjuration of demons, and so forth),76
making no distinction between them and astral magic. It is clear, at
any rate, that Rashba entertained no doubts as to the reality of astral
magic and in fact permitted its use for medical purposes.
Rashba also hints at his acceptance of the combination of theurgy
and astral magic, that is, the link between theosophical and astral
emanation. Here, too, he betrays the obvious influence of Nahman-
ides’ ideas. In his commentary on the aggadic statement, “The Holy
One, blessed be He, waters the Land of Israel Himself, the rest of the
world—[only] through an agent” (TB Ta#anit 10a), he distinguishes
between the Land of Israel, which is beyond the astral dominion and
watched over solely by God, and other countries, which are under the
sway of “a constellation or one of the lords of heaven.”
Rashba writes:
For the action of all the intelligences and constellations of the heavens
(sekhalim u-mazzalot ha-shamayim), whose dominion the Lord, blessed be
He, placed over the earth,77 derives only from the influence emanated
upon them from the Prime Mover, blessed be He, and since the Land of
On the antinomian conception of the Land of Israel see Schwartz, “The Land of
Israel in the Fourteenth Century Neoplatonic School,” 146-149.
76 See, for instance, Rashba, Responsa, ed. Dimitrovsky, I/1, 134, l. 88.
77 Like Nahmanides, Rashba has a rich terminology for astral spirituality (“Intel-
ligences,” “soul of the stars,” “lords on high,” and so forth). For example: “For all
the powers, although they have dominion over the earth and the Lord assigned them
to all the nations, they are subject to chance and events in the alteration of their
movement, and the lowly may overcome and the strong may fall low, depending on
the conjunctions and their aspect, as is known to the astronomers… It follows from
this that a nation or climate subject to the dominion of the lords on high who rule,
whenever chance overtakes the ruler, it will automatically overtake those who are
ruled thereby” (Perushei ha-Haggadot, 10). Rashba also declares that “Because Solomon
was the wisest of all men, so much so that he also made use of the spiritual entities”
(ibid, 84). On the term “spiritual entity” [ruhani] in reference to the powers that move
the spheres, see ibid., 12, 45, and so forth Rashba in fact laid the foundations for
the identification of “lords on high” with the sefirot.
Israel receives [lit.: drinks] surveillance from Him, blessed be He, without
the need for any agent among the celestial constellations, it follows that
the rain that descends there is the principle of rain, rain of goodwill and
blessing, which brings forth abundant fruit… But the other lands, which
are subject to the dominions of the heavens, it is as if they were drink-
ing, for example, the distillation of that rain. The saying “The Land of
Israel is watered first” [TB Ta#anit 10a] has precisely this meaning, for
[the Land of Israel] receives the supreme blessing, while all the world
[receives] the influence emanated upon all receivers from that blessing,
for they are agents sent to rule the world and water it.78
According to this interpretation, the influence radiated upon all lands
other than Israel is a combination of theosophical and astral influence.
Rashba hints that beneficial rain is an outcome of the influence of
“the supreme blessing” (hokhmah and malkhut), while the “dominions
of the other lands” receive this influence and radiate it to the mate-
rial world. It follows that astral influence is one link in the chain of
emanation beginning in the world of the sefirot; outside the Land
of Israel, at least, the influence actually received is a combination
of both categories, namely, sefirot and stars. This passage, therefore,
interweaves the theosophical and magic-astral aspects. Nevertheless,
note that Rashba never explicitly recognizes astral magic as a theologi-
cal factor. His acceptance of the idea that spirituality can be drawn
down to earth comes to light in his halakhic responsa only, and even
there it is limited to medical needs.
Ritba makes constant use of astral arguments in his commentary on
the Passover Haggadah, and appeals to it once or twice in his Talmud
commentary.79 In order to prove that “Israel is not under the control
of any constellation” [TB Shabbat 156a], he uses Augustine’s “twins”
argument, in which he attempts to reject astrology by pointing out
the different fates of twins, who possess identical horoscopes. Jacob’s
life was thus quite different from that of Esau. Ritba, however, unlike
Augustine, recognizes astrology as a general law applicable to every-
78 Perushei ha-Haggadot, 71. Rashba’s interpretation of this passage is in conflict with

interpretations that emerged in Castilian Kabbalah in such circles as those the Cohen
brothers, which based this legend on the theurgic aspect. See, for instance, Todros
Abulafia, Otzar ha-Kavod (Warsaw, 1879), 18c (“The Secret of Ma#aseh Bereshith”).
79 See Schwartz, “Conservatism vs. Rationality,” 160. See also Rashba, Novellae
on the first mishnah in Tractate Ta#anit (“for the whole intention of the hasadim in the
benediction [the second of the Shemoneh-Esreh] is to nullify the astral system”). The
commentary on the Haggadah is discussed below.
84 chapter three
thing except the Jewish people.80 In his Haggadah commentary he

appeals to talmudic-midrashic literature, which relies on astrology.81
The Exodus from Egypt is described as the outcome of the activity of
“the divine attributes of din and rahamim” in their theosophical sense;
the attribute of din causes a “war that took place on high, to defeat
their guardian angel.”82 In parallel, Ritba also accepts the magic of the
divine names as an interpretive principle.83 Finally, Ritba adopts the
astrological style of Nahmanides in his explanation of the scapegoat,84
from which it is clear that he was aware of the magic-astral argument,
though he preferred not to cite it at length. We may therefore assume
that, to the extent that Ritba reveals his ideological conceptions, they
accord with those of Nahmanides as stated by his interpreters.
Astral Magic in Ritba’s Circle

Indirect evidence of Ritba’s attitude to the concept of astral magic as
a theological factor may be gleaned from the writings of his disciple
80 “…that Israel is not subject to any constellation. Know, truly, that for that
reason the wicked Esau was present as a twin with the righteous Jacob in the same
womb, so that the whole world should understand that the righteousness of the
righteous Jacob was of himself, not consequent upon an arrangement of constel-
lations or from the nature of his mother and father or from any other necessary
cause, for he and Esau were born in the same womb, and Esau became corrupted,
while Jacob took the path of the good” (Haggadah shel Pesah im Perushei ha-Rishonim,
ed. Mordechai Leib Katznelenbogen [Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1998], 74).
For Augustine’s argument, see Laura Ackerman-Smaller, History, Prophecy, and the
Stars: The Christian Astrology of Pierre d’Ailly, 1350-1420 (Princeton, N. J.: Princeton
University Press, 1994), 26-27.
81 See, for instance, Haggadah shel Pesah, 51, 73, 108.
82 Ibid., 118-119. As noted, it may be assumed that Ritba was using the terms
din and rahamim in their theosophical sense, since he calls his commentary “by way
of truth” (ibid.). See also ibid., 130. If so, we see that Ritba, too, established a link
between the theosophical and astrological aspects (“their guardian angel”).
83 Ritba presents a magical interpretation of Moses’ rod, saying that it had written
on it “the combination of letters of the Names with which Heaven and Earth had been
created” (ibid., 116). The magic of the Name also underlies Ritba’s interpretation of
the Urim and Thummim (Novellae on TB Yoma 73b), thus approaching Nahmanides’
view in his Torah commentary (Exodus 28:30), which argues against Ibn Ezra’s
astrological interpretation. See also Sikili, Torat ha-Minhah, 1: 309.
84 “‘I have given the hill country of Se#ir as a possession to Esau’ [Deuteronomy
2:5], for he is a hairy man [sa#ir], and his place is the hill country of Se#ir, and his
portion is goats [se#irim]” (Haggadah shel Pesah, 75). Note that Ritba supported Mai-
monides’ view of the demons as imaginary, contrary to the view that they are “solid
bodies” (Sefer ha-Zikkaron, 79).
Judah b. Solomon Canpanton, in particular, his book Arba#ah Qinya-

nim. This work combines philosophical, ethical and kabbalistic ideas
and, as stated, to some extent documents the issues that concerned
Ritba’s circle.
In a chapter devoted to the uniqueness of the Jewish people, Can-
panton considers the merit of man and his superiority over the angels.
The universe, he writes, is an arena in which various powers act; “all
the powers that were present only potentially, if not actually realized,
it is as if those powers did not exist.” The typical trait of man is that
he is capable of “attracting” those powers to himself. The description
of human superiority appears under the heading, “by way of truth”:
“Man, through the power invested in him, attracts85 all the powers
to himself as a magnet attracts iron86 and as the moon attracts the
power of the sun to itself so that it is seen to have the light of the sun
more than is seen in the other stars.”87
Canpanton presents two examples of the realization of the powers:
magnetism, which has no scientific, causal explanation; and the light
of the moon, which comes from the sun. We may conclude, therefore,
that the use of the powers may be explained according to both the
(Aristotelian) causal-scientific paradigm and the causally inexplicable
paradigm, which includes sorcery and magic. Discussing the temple
85 In Canpanton’s terminology, the verb mashakh per se, meaning attract or draw,
does not necessarily have a magical meaning. Thus, he writes that “the Creator…
granted strength to man’s mind to attract things to itself” (Sefer Arba#ah Qinyanim le-
R. Yehuda b. Shlomo Canpanton me-Ir Molina, ed. M. Y. Blau, [New York: M. Y. Blau,
1997], 54). Nevertheless, we have already seen that the term was associated with
magic in Rashba’s circle.
86 See Yitzhak Tzvi Langermann, “Gersonides on the Magnet and the Heat of
the Sun,” in Studies on Gersonides: A Fourteenth-Century Jewish Philosopher-Scientist, ed. Gad

Freudenthal (Leiden: Brill, 1992), 276-282. Members of Rashba’s circle considered
the magnetic phenomenon as expressing the inadequacy of scientific explanations.
For the view of the author of Sefer ha-Hinnukh, for example, see Dov Schwartz, “On
Gersonides as a Scientist” [Hebrew], Pe#amim 54 (1993): 135 and n. 4. See also idem,
Messianism in Medieval Jewish Thought, 134 and n. 56.
87 Arba#ah Qinyanim, 21. Stellar action is compared to magnetism in a translation,
attributed to Ibn Ezra, of a work by Mash#allah: “All the stars have a power, together
with the seven servants, in their actions and their consequences and the action of
the stars in the world. It resembles the stone known as ‘magnet,’ which attracts iron
from nearby. Thus all the plants and trees on earth are created from the strength
and motion of the stars” (Sefer le-Mash#allah be-Qadrut ha-Levanah ve-ha-Shemesh ve-hibbur
ha-Kokhavim u-Tequfot ha-Shanim, [Jerusalem, 1971], 2-3). The idea of attracting light
does not appear in Ibn Ezra’s writings in relation to the reflection of the sun’s light
by the moon.
86 chapter three
implements, Canpanton suggests that it might be possible to use the

powers by receiving divine influence. To his mind, the seven-branched
candelabrum represents the seven planets, the middle lamp being the
sun, whose “power” is clearly visible. The calyxes and petals of the
candelabrum express these principles:
And the explanation of the calyx is that it alludes to the reception of
influence, while the petal alludes to the flow of influence from above
to below. For the Lord first exercises His providence over the upper
worlds and then over the lower, as King David, of blessed memory, said:
“He sees what is below, in heaven and on earth” [Psalms 113:6]—first
heaven is mentioned, and only then the earth. This was expressed [by
the rabbis] when they said: “Everything depends on the constellation,
except for the Land of Israel.”88
Thus, the task of the calyxes and the petals is to absorb both astral and
theosophical emanation. Moreover, explaining the species of animals
that may be sacrificed, Canpanton enunciates a general rule: “Just
as the powers of the constellations and the stars are found in human
beings, so [God] commanded that [sacrifices] be made from the most
readily available species, but he did not command that sacrifices be
made from the gazelle and the deer, which would require one to go to
the mountains to hunt them and take trouble to find them.”89 Sacrifices
are thus directed toward the common astral emanations; accordingly,
Manoah and Samson offered up kids, as against the constellation of
Jupiter.90 In the Temple, the priests and the person offering a sacrifice
88 Arba#ah Qinyanim, 57. Compare Ritba in his Novellae to TB Mo#ed Qatan 28a.
See further Zohar, Naso, 3:134a. Canpanton expresses the extreme view that God
does not watch over the regions reserved for the stars: “The Holy One, blessed be
He, does not extend His providence over any man in these matters [dependent on
the constellation]” (Arba#ah Qinyanim, 85).
89 Ibid., 125. Canpanton agrees with Maimonides’ view of the sacrificial rite
as an educational process aimed at releasing the Jews from idolatrous tendencies.

Nevertheless, he refers his reader to the theurgic reason, citing “sages of truth,” and
insists “It is all reliable truth” (ibid., 85).
90 “And the matter of Manoah is that he made an offering of a goat’s kid [gedi
izzim], the word gedi is of the same root as the expression gad gaddi [TB Shabbat 67b],
meaning ‘my constellation is good.’ The allusion is to the constellation of Jupiter,
which signifies everything that is good. Moreover, Samson was of the mighty ones
[azzim], and he therefore fought the wars of the Lord and succeeded in all he set
out to do, and therefore he was a Nazirite to God from the womb on. For wine
is justice, that is, ‘Do not look at wine when it is red’ [Proverbs 23:13]; read not
‘when it is red’ (yit’addam) but rather ‘it desires blood’ (yit’av dam)” (ibid., 132). Wine
is already associated with fear or justice in Sefer ha-Bahir (ed. Margalyot, §137). The
would see “the shape of a lion of fire <descending> from the heav-
ens and consuming the offering.”91 On the basis of the astrological
contexts that Canpanton discusses at length, we may assume that in
his view the sacrifice attracts the fiery shape from the stars.
In light of the material surveyed up to this point, it may be argued
that Canpanton considers religious precepts and prohibitions as means
for bringing down emanation and, in fact, he defines the attraction of
emanation as the reception of “Supreme Power”:
And now I will reveal to you a certain great, good secret. It is known
that the name Elohim is derived from the same root as eyalut [strength,
power].92 And all the foods that Jews eat are pure on the right-hand
side, and whoever partakes of forbidden foods demonstrates that he is
not content with the Supreme Power and therefore desires to take one
of the other powers.93
Canpanton is saying that the consumption of a permitted food brings
down influence from the sefirah of hesed. On the other hand, on the
basis of this quotation, the reason for the prohibition of certain foods
and the meaning of the expression “one of the other powers” may be
interpreted in three different ways: (a) While permitted eating brings
about theosophical emanation, forbidden eating is seen to attract astral
emanation; (b) permitted eating brings down emanation from the sefirah
of hesed, while forbidden foods bring down emanation from din; (c)
permitted eating brings down positive emanation, but forbidden foods
bring down forces of impurity.94 All three interpretations explain the
action of the precepts according to the magic-astral model.
intent of this passage is that a sacrifice may bring down influence from hesed, which
is identified with Jupiter.
91 Ibid., 126. Elsewhere, Canpanton adds: “The essence of sacrifice is prayer.
Accordingly, after he [Elijah on Mount Carmel] had made the altar and cut up the bull,
as Scripture explains, the fire did not descend until he had prayed” (ibid., 130).
92 The source for this statement is probably in The Kuzari 4:3: “But the word el
[god] is derived from eyalut [strength; Psalms 22:20], from which all the powers issued.”
The influence of The Kuzari in this context is also evident elsewhere in Canpanton’s
work (ibid., 76). Elsewhere, he points out that the name Elohim refers to the angels,
since “they are appointed over human beings… For He, blessed be He, granted
one power to each and every angel” (ibid., 87). Such statements are clarified by the
combination of astral and theosophical influence.
93 Ibid., 66.
94 See Moshe Idel, “Ta#amei ha-#Ofot ha-Teme’im by Rabbi David ben Yehuda
He-Hasid” [Hebrew], in Alei Shefer: Studies in the Literature of Jewish Thought Presented
to Rabbi Dr. Alexandre Safran, ed. Moshe Hallamish (Ramat-Gan: Bar Ilan University
Press, 1990), 13, 21, and so forth.
88 chapter three
As noted, Ritba’s book of sermons is not extant. Nevertheless, it is

clear from the teachings of his disciple that theosophical and magic-
astral traditions coexisted in his school. At several points in his book,
Canpanton writes that there are no books at his disposal and that he
is quoting from memory. This observation confirms our thesis as to
the preservation of traditions in Ritba’s circle. Thus, Nahmanides’
approach, in its later development, also had an influence on Ritba’s
associates.
Conclusions
The foregoing survey showed that Nahmanides’ approach is an

amalgam of two models, which later separated and became distinct
as Castilian Kabbalah evolved during the thirteenth century. The
theurgic model, which consists in attracting emanation to the sefirot
and fertilizing the divine world, does not necessarily involve magical
connotations; it became the basis of kabbalistic theurgy in Castile and
later crystallized into its final form in Zoharic literature.95 The magic-
astral model, which focuses on the drawing down of emanation or
influence from the supernal to the terrestrial worlds in order to ensure
(or enhance) the material existence of the latter, gained acceptance
mainly among the proponents of ecstatic Kabbalah (as Moshe Idel has
shown at length); it became an important factor among the writers
of supercommentaries on Nahmanides. Nahmanides himself saw no
contradiction between the two models and used both of them. He
laid the theoretical foundations for the use of both models by linking
theosophical and astral emanation, presenting them as two aspects
of the same influence or as two hypostases in the process of emana-
tion. These foundations, along with Nahmanides’ special terminology
that associated the sefirot and the moving power of the spheres, were
absorbed into the writing of his disciples, such as Isaac Todros and
Rashba. The texts cited above, both those of Nahmanides himself and
those of his school, indicate that the “secret” of the sacrificial rite was
95 The astral-magical model is not dominant in Zoharic literature, although its
presence should not be ignored, particularly as black magic. See Dorit Cohen-Alloro,
The Secret of the Garment in the Zohar [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Institute of Jewish Studies,
1987), 82-88; idem, Magic and Sorcery in the Zohar [Hebrew] (Ph. D. dissertation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1989), 100-104, 170-172.
based on a simultaneously theurgic and magic-astral substrate. From

that time on, the two models developed independently.
Four central streams were pointed out in the kabbalistic camp
concerning the relationship between theurgy and astral magic in the
secret of sacrifice:
1. Synthesis, combining theurgy and astral magic in Nahmanides’
formulation (David Cohen, Shem Tov ibn Gaon, Menahem
Recanati, Judah Canpanton).
2. Ignoring the magic-astral dimension or combining the theosophical
and astral aspects in the definition of the descending influence, but
without emphasis on magic (Bahya b. Asher, Jacob Sikili, Isaac of
Acre).
3. Suppressing the magic-astral element (author of Sefer ha-Hinnukh,
author of sermons from the school of Jonah of Gerona).
4. Suppressing the entire discussion, most probably because it was
considered to be esoteric lore (Rashba, Ritba).96
What caused this impressive dissemination of Nahmanides’ “secret
of sacrifice”? Obviously, Nahmanides’ exceptional prestige and his
halakhic status created a special halo around the “secret.” Another
factor could be added, however, which might explain the focus on the
secret of sacrifice rather than on some other aspect of Nahmanides’
mystical teachings: the magic-astral approach. Astral magic, which
had been quite common in twelfth-century theology, particularly in
the writings of Moses ibn Ezra, Judah Halevi, and Abraham ibn
Ezra, was rejected by Jewish rationalists because of Maimonides’
authority. The kabbalists of Nahmanides’ circle refused to concur,
however, and sharply disagreed with the philosophers about this. At
the same time, the silence of the Gerona kabbalists—R. Jonah and
R. Azriel—concerning the magic-astral argument is deafening: not
only is it a plausible assumption that they were aware of the traditions
propounded by their townsman, Nahmanides, but they also chose
to ignore a time-honored model, which had been prominent in the
writings of earlier scholars such as Abraham ibn Ezra.
96 The fact that these thinkers did consider astral magic in the context of the
“secret of sacrifice” is indicated by their disciples’ interest in the subject. The topic
was suppressed, in all probability, under the influence of Nahmanides’ opinion that
astral magic was an area to be concealed and taught to a select few only. See below,
and see Schwartz, Astral Magic, ch. 4.
90 chapter three
It is quite likely that the activities of the kabbalists of Nahmanides’

circle furthered the reappearance of astral magic in the theological
world of fourteenth century Jewish philosophy. These kabbalists
employed the magic-astral model in their thought, and some also
preserved the esoteric dimension of the model.
institutionalization 91
CHAPTER FOUR
INSTITUTIONALIZATION
Astrological theology develops among a group of thinkers in Spain and

its environs from the early fourteenth century onwards. The magic-
astral approach develops as a natural and almost required corollary
once astrological theology reaches maturity. This approach, stunning
in its vigor and impetus, becomes a coherent and institutionalized
doctrine within this Neoplatonic circle of thinkers. This chapter is
focused on the magic-astral thought of this circle, tracing in detail
the chronological development of the ideas that flourished within
this group of Spanish philosophers. Magic-astral approaches begin to
emerge systematically in the writings of two mid-fourteenth century
thinkers, Solomon Alconstantin and Solomon Franco, who could be
said to represent the first stage in the development of a structured
magic-astral hermeneutics. In its second stage (1360-1380), the
founder’s ideas are elaborated by Samuel ibn Zarza, Ezra Gatigno,
and Joseph Bonfils, and in its third stage (1380-1400), by Shem Tov
ibn Shaprut, and Shem Tov ibn Mayor.1
Drawing Down Spirituality
Astral Magic as a Real Science

In the writings of this circle, as noted, astral magic becomes a real
hermeneutical element with vast theological implications. These think-
ers know that the sources for the available knowledge on the drawing
down of stellar spirituality are idolatrous. Following Maimonides, they
adopt the pagan model originating in Harran as a reflection of the
ancient pagan cult, but recognize it as real and show signs of sympa-
thy toward it. For sure, they tell themselves, the pagans learned this
wisdom from the Jewish patriarchs. They do acknowledge, however,
1 I discuss the philosophical outlook of the thinkers in this circle in my book, The
Philosophy of a Fourteenth Century Jewish Neoplatonic Circle [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Bialik

Institute 1996), 31-32.
92 chapter four
that the drawing down of spirituality closely resembles an act of idolatry.

Alconstantin states that the worship of the planet Mars through “the
image of the planet made to draw down spirituality” was part of the
Baal cult.2 He also notes that the cults of Asherah, Astarte, and the
pillars, which had been popular among the Canaanites, are predicated
on the drawing down of spirituality. In his view, these cults are real
and were only forbidden because of their idolatrous use:
The Canaanites used to worship Asherah, and Astarte, and the pillars,
and the sun pillars, and these are abominations abhorred by God.3
Whoever does this seeks to draw down spirituality from the planets and
signs, in specific aspects, onto the trees and images, so as to extend the
spirituality to the worshipper of the tree or the image and tell him of
future events or matters in which he might succeed… When Moses came,
God told us through him that these were all worthless and useless deeds,
and commanded they [the pillars] should be destroyed when He said,
“You shall surely destroy them” (Deuteronomy 12:2). The pillars had
been beloved at the time of the patriarchs because the people had meant
to worship God through them, but God commanded their destruction
only because now they meant to worship the gods of the strangers of
the land.4 And a word to the wise will suffice.5
Specifically, according to Alconstantin, idolatry was forbidden because
this worship was directed to “the gods of the strangers.” The “pillar”6
2 Solomon Alconstantin, Megalleh Amuqqot, Vatican Ms 59, 6a.

3 According to Deuteronomy 16:22, 18:9-12.
4 According to Deuteronomy 31:16. See Ibn Ezra ad locum.
5 Alconstantin, Megalleh Amuqqot, 110 a-b. Cited according to the critical edition
that appears in Schwartz, The Philosophy of a Fourteenth Century Jewish Neoplatonic Circle,
281. A paraphrase of this passage appears in Samuel ibn Zarza, Mikhlol Yofi, Paris
Ms. 729-730, 1: 227b. Concerning the attitude to idolatry, consider Alconstantin’s
commentary in Megalleh Amuqqoth, 60a on the midrash in Exodus Rabba 3:6: “I always
was, I am now, and I always will be”: “This means that God told Moses that all
three times—past, present, and future—are one and the same for Him, may He be
blessed, since He is not bound by time… This was for them a great wonder, since
they were idolaters and could see that the idols they worshipped did not operate in
all these three times, but at a distinct time according to their value and extent on
earth. When you show them that there is a First Being that activated time they will
believe it, because His power is equally effective in all three times, unlike the deities
they worship, whose action is bound by time, and you should understand this.” God’s
omnipotence, then, is evident in his action at all times, contrary to the magicians
who are bound by time and place according to the rules of astral magic, which is
the sign of paganism’s inferiority vis-à-vis monotheism.
6 Compare Julian Morgenstern, Rites of Birth, Marriage, Death and Kindred Occa-
sions among the Semites (New York: Ktav, 1973), 146-147. The pillar is a stone that
served various purposes in the biblical period, including as a site for the offering of
sacrifices.
per se is not forbidden. To the contrary, Alconstantin openly argues

that God accepts idolatrous modes when adopted for divine worship: “… because
when they worship Him, may He be blessed, through the same modes
they had used to worship another god, He will accept them.”7 These
remarks more than hint to an outlook viewing the aim of many com-
mandments as drawing down astral emanation in the style of idolaters.
Hence, despite the close resemblance between the drawing down of
spirituality and idolatry, thinkers in this circle did not recoil from
turning it into a significant theological element.
Alconstantin was not the only one. An important source on the
drawing down of stellar spirituality is the Sefer ha-Atsamim [Book of
Substances] attributed to Ibn Ezra, and we deal below with the way
in which thinkers in this circle became acquainted with it. Samuel
ibn Zarza cites extensive passages from it about the types of spiritual
forces emanating from the stars, forces partly at the magician’s disposal.
Excerpts from these quotations are cited below, since the attitude to
these forces, their adaptation, and their adoption are the best illustra-
tion of these thinkers’ attitude to idolatrous hermetic traditions:
As for the legislators, the Sabians and the men of Habut8 and the Chal-
deans and all the others who had lived before the flood—all then held
that stellar forces operate within us and they are the ones that lead us
as part of their influence upon all objects in the terrestrial world. To
them we owe our continued existence and they are the cause of it, as
well as the cause of our privation and corruption. This was an unques-
tionable truth except for the person who is accompanied by a Divine
Providence, which reverses all these acts and proves superior to the
person it provides for. Would the star enjoin evil to befall us, Divine
Providence would abolish it, and would the star enjoin good fortune
to come upon us, Divine Providence would strengthen its influence, as
Moses and Elijah strengthened Divine Providence. Hence, these nations
worshipped the planets and their powers, praising them and glorifying
them, and bowing to them on the day the planet ruled, invoking the
stars’ names, bringing sacrifices to them, making offerings to them, and
burning the appropriate incense at the time they were in each sign, and
bringing down their power…
Hence, I will not refrain from telling you about their concern and
their acts, since you will thereby learn and understand the truth about
7 Alconstantin, Megalleh Amuqqoth, 78b.

8 He is referring here to the Nabateans. bot is a reed and makes no sense here, so
that this is probably a misprint of Nbt that refers, as noted, to the Nabateans.
94 chapter four
the Torah of Israel and about Moses, and all the verses in the Torah will
attest to this truth, further confirmed by what I will show you from the
truth of reason. All your doubts will be dismissed, and you will believe
in God and in his holy Torah with incontrovertible faith rather than
because of tradition, as the masses do, and especially the less worthy
ones [haserim] among them. As this smoke goes up, the incense fragrance
reaches the planet. According to the planet’s desire for this smoke, it
[the smoke] will come down and [man will]draw it to himself, and when
the nether is in conjunction with the supreme, the supreme must be in
conjunction with the nether…
Whoever wishes to know about other ways of drawing down spiritu-
ality from the stars, can learn about it in the Book of Nabatean Agriculture,
in the book of Aristotle, and in the Book of Techne.9 All is told in
these books, and it is pointless to repeat it. I did specifically mention
the drawing down of spirituality from Saturn because this is the planet
that rules the people of Israel, both in general and in particular and,
since it is the general ruler, it will also necessarily affect the parts, and
God, may He be blessed, is the path to truth.10
Ibn Zarza opens and closes the above passage with a series of decla-
rations pointing both to the importance of drawing down spirituality
from the stars and to the secret nature of this act. These declarations
unequivocally show that he views pagan traditions as an important
source for understanding the Torah. Ibn Zarza opens by saying: “You
must understand this wondrous and hidden matter, and do not reveal
what you understand from it except to the likes of yourself.” He con-
cludes with the words “you will still see wondrous and hidden matters
that he [Ibn Ezra, to whom the Sefer ha-Atsamim was attributed] has
written on this…on matters of prophecy.”
Bonfils, with unusual candor, admits to his at least theoretical inter-
est in the rules for drawing down spirituality:
… This is the way of the sages of India who, at given times, make
metal effigies to draw down the power of the stars, and this is a great
wisdom on which there are many books, and I know Ishmaelites who
9Ibn Zarza read this name as the Hebrew spelling of Galen’s book Techne. See, for
instance, Moritz Steinschneider, Die hebräischen Übersetzungen des Mittelalters und die Juden
als Dolmetscher: ein Beitrag zur Literaturgeschichte des Mittelalters, meist nach handschriftlichen
Quellen (Berlin: Kommissionsverlag des Bibliographischen Bureaus, 1893). Ibn Zarza
may be referring to an abridged version of the Book of Nabatean Agriculture.
10 Sefer ha-Atsamim, 17-21. The importance of this source is evident in its extensive
citation in both of Ibn Zarza’s works, Meqor Hayyim—93a, 97d, 114c, 117c—and
Mikhlol Yofi—2:147.
possess this wisdom. I myself know a little about it, theoretically and
not practically for, in truth, this is idolatry.11
The expression great wisdom [hokhmah] conclusively attests to its value
in Bonfils’ eyes, although he defines it as idolatry. Ibn Zarza also
relates to magic-astral effigies as “wisdom,” and conveys this respect-
ful attitude in several places. For instance, Ibn Ezra suggests that
Korah and his company, who had offered sacrifices in fire-pans, were
burned because of “your prayers or the wisdom that you knew.”12
The intimation of a magical deed is eminently clear, and Ibn Zarza
adds: “And consider these words of the Master, for he has hinted at
a great matter.”13 Generally: “There is a power in man that knows
the judgments of the stars, and he will know to make an image at
the time the sign grows on its image at certain hours.”14
Recognizing astral magic as wisdom required the adoption of
techniques characteristic of this realm. Let us return to Bonfils, who
introduces a technique for drawing the star’s power and emana-
tion—prayer. The text relates that Moses went out of the city and
entreated the Lord to cease the plague of hail (Exodus 9:29). And
why did he go out? “Because while Moses was in the city, which
was ruled by that sign, he could not receive the supreme power as
he would have outside, hence he did not pray there.”15 The star’s
emanation, then, can be drawn by praying to it, and commentators did not
hesitate to ascribe such a technique, which is widespread in magical
and Hermetic literature, to Moses. Note also that, as is true of most
magical activities, astral magic also poses the danger of the magician
erring in some process, and the potential harm borders on disaster.
Franco interprets the punishment of Nadav and Avihu according to
this principle, citing a tradition concerning one of Aristotle’s disciples
“who was in the process of preparing an image—a matter unfit for
11 Bonfils, Tsafenat Pa#aneah, 1:245.

12 Ibn Ezra, Commentary on Numbers 17:6.
13 Ibn Zarza, Meqor Hayyim, 101b.
14 Shem-Tov Ibn Mayor, ha-Ma’or ha-Gadol, Oxford Bdl. Ms. 228, 55b.
15 Bonfils, Tsafenat Pa#aneah, 1:219. On mysticism and magic in prayer see Shalom
Rosenberg, “Prayer and Jewish Thought: Directions and Problems” [Hebrew], in

Prayer in Judaism: Continuity and Change, ed. Gabriel H. Cohn (Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan
University Press, 1978). Compare also Joseph Dan, “The Emergence of a Mystical
Prayer,” in Studies in Jewish Mysticism, ed. Joseph Dan and Frank Talmage (Cambridge,
Mass.: Association for Jewish Studies, 1982), 85-120; Moshe Idel, “Kabbalistic Prayer
in Provence” [Hebrew], Tarbiz 62 (1993): 265-286.
96 chapter four
mention here—and because he was not versed in that worship was

burnt by fire and died.”16
We thus find a group of thinkers who devote their energy and
creativity to the presentation of astral magic as a distinctive wisdom.
These thinkers do not recoil from tracing this science’s ancient pagan
sources, and even anchor it in their orderly exegesis of the Torah
and of Aggadah. From this point onward, no doubt would prevail
concerning the reality of astral magic, or even concerning its relative
religious legitimacy.
Magic-Astral Interpretation
We will now consider other exegetic applications of astral magic. Astral
magic is shown to be effective in drawing down spirituality in several
biblical affairs, such as the terafim, the golden calf, and the brass ser-
pent. The common denominator of all the exegetes is that Ibn Ezra’s
cryptic language can be fully explained in astral magic terms.
Regarding the terafim, we found that Ibn Ezra had cloaked his views
in a mist of uncertainty by citing a number of views.17 By contrast, by
the fourteenth century, no doubts prevailed concerning this enigmatic
commentator’s true views. The terafim are unequivocally presented as
vessels for drawing down stellar spirituality. Consider Franco’s reading
of Ibn Ezra’s commentary:
The wisdom of images supplies the ways and the foundations for the
making of specific forms from specific metals at specific times to bring
down the supreme power on he who makes them, so that he may know
the future through them and succeed.18
Ibn Zarza quotes the two views that appear in Ibn Ezra’s commen-
tary on the meaning of the terafim. One identifies the terafim with an
astronomical instrument, “a copper instrument made to know parts
of hours,” and the other, with “a form at a given time.” As noted,
Ibn Ezra ostensibly rejects both views, but Ibn Zarza ignores this
16 Solomon Franco, supercommentary on Ibn Ezra, Oxford Bdl. Ms 1258,

75a.
17
See above, ch. 1. According to the interpretation I proposed, Ibn Ezra has
the magic-astral meaning in mind.
18 Franco, supercommentary on Ibn Ezra, 59a, cited in a commentary on the
mysteries of Ibn Ezra written by Ezra Gatigno, a thinker deeply influenced by Franco.
See Ezra Gatigno, Sod Adonai le-Yere’av, Munich Ms. 15, 257a, and see also p. 37
above, the commentary by David ibn Bilia in note 22.
rejection in his quote. Rather, according to Ibn Zarza’s citation and

interpretation, Ibn Ezra accepts at least the latter view: “a form at
a given time.” Ibn Zarza then proceeds to present his own view on
the matter of drawing down spirituality:
You should know that the purpose of the terafim is to receive the supreme
power [lit.: power from the supremes], and they would each make a
specific form to draw down the supreme power upon it. And he said a
great thing in Pirqei de-Rabbi Eliezer: What are the terafim? A first-born
son is killed and decapitated, the head is salted and perfumed, placed
upon the wall, a golden plume is lit up, given an impure name and
placed under his tongue, with a candle before it. They then bow to him
and he speaks to them. And how do we know that the terafim speak?
Because it has been said, “for the terafim have spoken vanity” (Zekharia
10:2), and that is why Rachel stole them, so that they would not tell
Laban that Jacob had run away, and also to uproot idolatry from her
father’s house.19
Bonfils postulates that both of Ibn Ezra’s exegeses should be combined.
He identifies the mentioned “copper instrument” with an astrolabe.20
His hypothesis is that stellar spirituality is brought down by means
of a particular image, where the astrolabe itself is set and engraved.
Hence, the use of terafim is the ritual of drawing down spirituality
through the instrument best able to determine the astral constella-
tion: “Possibly, the instrument was set in the form itself.”21 Doubt
has thus turned into certainty, and the terafim are explained as means
for drawing down spirituality.22
The same process is evident concerning the golden calf. Ibn Ezra’s
first concealed hints are now presented as clear and transparent. Solo-
mon ibn Ya#ish interprets as follows the word Elohim in the verse,
“Up, make us Elohim who shall go before us” (Exodus 32:1): “The
word Elohim denotes that Aaron is to make an image that receives the
supreme power, and God’s glory will rest on this form, which will have
the power to lead them and show them the right way.”23
19 Pirqei de-Rabbi Eliezer, ch. 36, with changes; Ibn Zarza, Meqor Hayyim 21b.
20 Ibn Ezra’s treatise Kli Nehoshet (Koenigsberg: Hartung, 1845) is devoted to the
astrolabe, and is crucial to the understanding of Ibn Ezra’s mysteries. See also Solomon
Gandz, “The Astrolabe in Jewish Literature,” HUCA 4 (1929): 469-486.
22 Ibn Shaprut also considered the terafim a form of talismanic magic (Bonfils,
Tsafenat Pa#aneah, Oxford Bdl. Ms 2359 [Opp. Add 4o 107] 49b).

23 Solomon ibn Ya#ish, supercommentary on Ibn Ezra on the Torah, Vatican
98 chapter four
The drawing down of spirituality functions as a permanent political

leadership, a kind of oracle purported to lead the wandering people
through the desert. This interpretation is also found among phi-
losophers in Byzantium.24 Franco suggests an additional example of
drawing down spirituality unto a calf’s image, namely, “the calves
that Jeroboam b. Nabat made, all in order to receive the supreme
powers.”25 In this hermeneutical development, defending the sin of
the golden calf takes on an old-new guise, in line with astral magic
meanings: the children of Israel had not sought other gods, but rather a
source of leadership.26 Judah Halevi’s implied argument now becomes
explicit and transparent.27
A third example is the exegesis on the brass serpent, which also
goes through a similar process. Ibn Ezra, as noted, states: “Many err.
They say that this was an image capable of receiving the supreme
power.”28 Franco claims that Ibn Ezra is not genuinely rejecting this
option, and interprets his true intention as follows:
He said in many places that the serpent’s effigy was made in order to
heal victims of serpent’s bites according to the wisdom of images but, in
order to conceal this matter, he explicitly said this in the wrong place.
When he notes this in the proper place, he uses the wording “many
say,” and “some say,” as I told you is his custom.29
Gatigno cites this passage from Franco verbatim, and then writes: “And
so have I learned from my teachers, as Franco wrote.”30 A tradition
was thus in existence concerning the magic-esoteric meaning of Ibn
Ezra’s exegesis on the matter of the brass serpent in particular, and
on the magic-astral realm in general, as confirmed by the appear-
ance of other exegeses in the same style. Ibn Zarza, for instance, cites
talismanic interpretations of the brass serpent’s effect, including that
Ms. 4, 54, 258b; also appears as a verbatim quotation in Ibn Mayor, ha-Ma’or ha-
Gadol, 158a.
24 See Schwartz, Astral Magic, 204.
25 Franco, supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Torah, 73b.
26 “Because they were not seeking to worship him, and they only wanted to receive
the emanation of its benefit [of the house of Venus, the sign of Taurus], which it had
received from God, may He be blessed…” (Bonfils, Tsafenat Pa#aneah, 1: 295).
27 See above, ch. 1.
29 Franco, supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Torah, 82a. I showed
above (ch. 1) that Franco’s commentary can find support in Ibn Ezra’s text.
30 Gatigno, Sod Adonai le-Yere’av, Munich Ms. 15, 281b.
by Moses Narboni.31 Ibn Mayor writes “this serpent was made with
supreme wisdom at specific times for the sake of the victims’ lives.
Hence, this was done by God’s command and will, since Moses knew
this wisdom.”32 Hesitation turns into certainty here as well, and the
brass serpent is perceived as an effigy made for the purpose of draw-
ing down supreme forces.
Finally, note that Bonfils used the same magic-astral technique to
explain Moses’ rod, which serves in many traditions as an archetype
of magical exegesis. According to Bonfils, the effectiveness of this cult
must be played down, lest Divine Providence is affronted.33 On God’s
command to Moses, “Stretch out thy hand over the land of Egypt for
the locusts,” Ibn Ezra quotes Moses ibn Gikatilla who says, “the reason
for the locust is that he placed a locust on the rod,”34 and rejects this
exegesis. Bonfils, therefore, writes as follows:
Moses Ha-Cohen [Gikatilla] explained that Moses placed images of
locusts on the rod in order to draw the supreme power to bring locusts
upon Egypt. In his view, this should be done at a specific time, known
from the wisdom of the signs. R. Abraham [Ibn Ezra] therefore said that,
if this is the true explanation, it is not proper to reveal it, lest onlookers
should think that this happened through the power of the sign rather
than through God’s command.35
31 Following is Moses Narboni’s commentary on Guide of the Perplexed 2:9 (ed.
Ya#akov Goldenthal [Vienna: 1852], 28b: “His [Maimonides’] saying ‘for the ancients
called the stars forms’ hints at the faces of the animals [in the chariot], and this is
a great mystery at which he hinted, intimating a great ancient dogma concerning
the images on which these crafts are based, namely, the nether forms resemble the
supernal ones and receive the supreme emanation, ‘surely man walks as a mere
image’ [Psalms 39:7], as Ptolemy says in … Sefer ha-Peri [Centilloquium].” I corrected
this version, which is extremely inaccurate, according to Ibn Zarza, Meqor Hayyim,
102d-103a. Several corrections of the passage in Sefer ha-Peri appear in the notes of
Joshuah Heschel Shor [Hebrew], He-Halutz 11 (1880), 80. For the quotation from Sefer
ha-Peri see above, p. 15, n. 48. Ibn Zarza thus relied on Moses Narboni to explain
how the serpent operates according to astral magic. See also below, ch. 5.
32 Ibn Mayor, ha-Ma’or ha-Gadol, Oxford Bdl. Ms. 228, 55b.
33 In another source, Bonfils expresses fears lest faith in Providence be affected
following acceptance of the approach ascribing overwhelming influence to astrologi-

cal forces. He conveys this fear when the time of the flood is set deterministically,
according to stellar constellations. Bonfils’ answer deals with the perception stating
that astrological constellations were determined at the Creation, including the specific
conjunction of the flood. See Bonfils, Tsafenat Pa#aneah, 1:77.
100 chapter four
In other words: in order to bring the locust plague upon Egypt, Moses
engraved the image of a locust upon the rod, according to the sympa-
thetic principle of placing a symbol of the request upon the instrument.
It is revealing that Bonfils too, like other thinkers of this circle who
had preceded him, did not accept Ibn Ezra’s explicit rejection of this
interpretation. Although his phrasing is somewhat hesitant (“if this is
the true explanation”…), it is certainly incompatible with Ibn Ezra’s
explicit rejection. Bonfils too, then, thinks of Ibn Ezra’s exegesis of
astral magic as a classic instance of esoteric writing.
To some extent, this explanation fits Alconstantin’s approach. In his
view, although the plagues were an inevitable consequence of a specific
celestial constellation, an “intervention of forces” as a disposition from
below was necessary in order to influence the supernal “forces.”36
Alconstantin offers a daring explanation that ascribes the cause of the
plagues, or at least some of them, to astral magic, and turns Moses
into a magician. When discussing the plagues, Alconstantin points to
the principle of sympathy between terrestrial and celestial forces to
explain the magic-astral phenomenon. He also sees fit to awaken the
educated reader to the importance of the theory he is suggesting for
the understanding of the plagues.37
An explicit magic-astral exegesis of the sources has thus emerged.
Although many fourteenth-century thinkers view astral magic as a realm
that is not intended for the wide public, they do not bother to hide the
emergence of this realm as an open and undisguised hermeneutical
and theological factor.
Distinctions
The magic-astral element thus becomes an essential element in the
writings of many rationalists. As noted, thinkers in this circle are
indeed aware of the similarities between astral magic and idolatry,
but draw a sharp distinction between a magic without astrological
36 Alconstantin, Megalleh Amuqqot, 64b.

37 “Know that, in my view, the fifth to the seventh plagues—pestilence, boils,
and hail—were brought about through the recipients forcing the supreme powers,
and their action followed the preparations made below, and you should understand
this as well” (ibid.). On Moses as magician see Idel, “The Magical and Neoplatonic
Interpretations of the Kabbalah in the Renaissance,” 202-203; Dov Schwartz, “A
Sermon Concerning the the Exodus from Egypt by R. Vidal Joseph de la Caballeria”
[Hebrew], Assufot: Annual for Jewish Studies 7 (1993): 266.
links and astral magic. The distinction is twofold: (1) magic is sleight
of hand, whereas astral magic is real; therefore (2) magic is forbid-
den, whereas astral magic is legitimate and even important in the
religious world view.
Let us consider several statements that present ordinary magic as
deception:
1. Ibn Ya#ish: “But the scholars hold that the rod turned into a ser-
pent through sleight of hand… and no objection can be raised
against this.”38 In other words, Ibn Ya#ish finds this interpretation
acceptable.
2. Ibn Zarza: “Since God has given man greater intellect than to
other creatures, he must flee from transgressions even without
fear of punishment, because they are all abominable and repel-
lent, a bad and false faith. Even if the Torah had not warned
against them, an intellectual will escape from them, from idolatry
and its uses, and from all that resembles it, including the things
known as “the ways of the Amorite,” a charmer, a necromancer,
a soothsayer, an enchanter, and a sorcerer—all are useless and
unreal. Those who are drawn after them imagining they are real
are deceived, since they are only imagining it and they suffer the
punishment that befalls them for having taken the course of this
sin….”39 “And know that sorcery and divination are vanity and
delusion, and they do not matter, but they can harm the one in
whom they have been imprinted through his faculty of imagination,
which imagined it [the sorcery]… but he who places his desire,
passion, intention, and faith in God, may He be blessed, will not
be hurt by them… Hence, our holy Torah has commanded that
this faith be uprooted from the world, and he who trusts God,
God will be his cover and protection on the day of wrath.”40
3. Bonfils: “The image (tselem) is called ‘anam,41 because it is empty
and useless.”42
4. Ibn Mayor: “Sorcery is entirely false, new gods who came but
lately, deceptions in people’s imagination… I met a sorceress from
38 Ibn Ya#ish, supercommentary on Ibn Ezra, 253b-254a.

39 Ibn Zarza, Mikhlol Yofi, 2:128b.
40 Ibn Zarza, Meqor Hayyim, 76a.
41 In Arabic.
42 Bonfils, Tsafenat Pa#aneah, 1:161, following Ibn Ezra’s commentary on Genesis
41:23.
102 chapter four
Tarragona and asked her to perform a specific act. She did what
I said, but was unsuccessful. She swore to me that she had used
stronger means than required and wondered about her failure until
she told me that, since I do not believe in magic, I would never
attain anything through it. Take this as proof of the fact that all
these are merely empty thoughts.43
5. Ibn Shaprut: “This is what you will find among those who act in
this way: they take a young boy lacking any wisdom, who agrees
to anything he is told and does it. They tell him: ‘Look into this
nail and into this utensil and you will see in them everything I will
ask you…’ It once happened to me with many of these sorcerers
that, after they were finished, I took the boy and, without any
other trappings, read swiftly to him ‘And Parshandatha, and Dal-
phon’ [Esther 9:7] and other names that frightened him, and he
thus reported seeing tenfold what he had said after their lies and
deception. So I said to them, ‘I am as clever as you.’ And they
said, ‘Yes, but this boy had received the spirituality through us.’
I then took another boy, who did the same. They then tried to
establish a difference between their acts and mine, and the truth
is that they are nimbler at this because this is their craft. I then
said, ‘I beg you, show me one demon, and demand a high price
from me for this, which I will pay, or perform some unnatural feat
for me.’ They tried to do this through their swindling and failed.
Then they said to me, ‘Indeed, your sign wins because you do
not believe, since the demons will only reveal themselves to the
believer and will only perform their acts for those who worship
them.’ So I told them, ‘I do believe that any reasonable person
will understand your falseness, and they bring neither good nor
evil.’”44
Note that Ibn Zarza understood that philosophers questioned the
reality of idolatrous acts: “Philosophers are divided. Some believe that
idolatry is real, and some believe it is not.”45 He himself, however,
43 Ibn Mayor, ha-Ma’or ha-Gadol, 197a. A similar description appears in Iggeret
ha-Teshuvah ascribed to Yitzhak ibn Latif, published in Qovets al-Yad 1 (1885), 61.
44 Ibn Shaprut, Pardes Rimmonim (Savionetta: Tuvyiah Foa, 1554), 13b-14a. This
description suggests that knowledge is required in order to receive spirituality, and

this realm should not be tied to popular manifestations of magic (as in the case of
the boy described here).
45 Ibn Zarza, Mikhlol Yofi, 1: 227b. This view is cited in Alconstantin, Megalleh
Amuqqot, 106b.
endorsed those advocating it is real and relies on them throughout his

exegeses. For instance, Ibn Zarza comments as follows on Balaam’s
statement, “Surely there is no enchantment in Jacob” (Numbers 23:
23): “No diviner or magician46 will harm Israel because, if he were to
do so, ‘Jacob and Israel are told what God had performed’ (Numbers
23:23). The divination and the magic are immensely powerful, hence
[the Bible] says, ‘the Lord his God is with him.’”47
Ibn Zarza, then, casts no doubt on astrology-related activity. Fur-
thermore, Ibn Mayor draws a clear distinction between “supreme
powers” and “demonic powers”: the former are real, and the latter
are empty and useless.48
Ibn Zarza and Ibn Mayor represent the approach characteristic of
this circle’s thinkers in general. In their view, astral magic (“supreme
powers”) has gone beyond idolatry and has become legitimate, and
is in no way part of magic as such. Varieties of magic were forbidden
because they are not real, and the five thinkers cited above convey
this view clearly. In fact, rationalists ridicule the “primitive” forms of
popular magic. Techniques for drawing down stellar forces, however,
termed “astral magic” for the purpose of the present discussion, are per-
ceived as a real, and even significant, element in their world view.
After being persuaded of the validity of astral magic and of its
religious legitimacy, we will henceforth follow its various expressions
in a theological and hermeneutic context.
Reasons for the Commandments
The Magic-Astral Mystery of the Torah

The writings of the thinkers mentioned above afford a broad astrologi-
cal explanation of reasons for the commandments. An explanation of
this type (also found, as noted, in Ibn Ezra’s writings) does not itself
require a consistent magical exegesis. One can merely assume that
certain acts will succeed in a particular celestial constellation. Such
an assumption might be valid, for instance, for part of Ibn Ezra’s
46 He is not referring to magic in the distinctive meaning of predicting the future.
Ibn Zarza states elsewhere: “In my view, magician is a general name for necromancer,
diviner and sorcerer” (Meqor Hayyim, 117d).
47 Numbers 23:21; Ibn Zarza, Meqor Hayyim, 105a.
48 Ibn Mayor, ha-Ma’or ha-Gadol, 197a.
104 chapter four
astrological explanations of the commandments in his commentary

on the Torah and in Yesod Mora.49 We could also assume that a com-
mandment should be observed at a specific time, since it is then that
the star’s spirituality can be drawn down. To be plausible, however,
this assumption must rely and also be corroborated by unambiguous
statements in this direction in the writings discussed. Alconstantin,
for instance, appears to be making such a statement:
…When the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, corruption
and deceit marked their deeds because the master of the desert ruled
over them. The surrounding nations thought that the master and ruler
of the desert would draw them away from cleaving to God’s worship
and Divine Providence would therefore abandon them, since they had
abandoned Tsedek50 far behind and were close to its opposite, which rules
the desert… After the faithful healer, chosen out of all human creatures,
had arrived, he understood the anger [of the children of Israel] and its
reason. He released them from the rulership of the one [planet] that
was causing the anger and brought them under [the rule of] Tsedek by
bringing down the tablets of the Torah and building the Tabernacle
and its utensils, which draw Tsedek nearer and remove evil…51
According to Alconstantin, the Torah’s general aim was to change
the fate of the children of Israel in the desert. Since they were then
ruled by Mars (“the master of the desert,” “evil”), Moses (“chosen out
of all human creatures”) sought to place them under the influence of
Jupiter by observing the commandments, with special emphasis on the
Tabernacle and its utensils. Given that this transition is astrologically
impossible, action must be taken to bring Jupiter “closer,” namely, to
draw down the stellar emanation by observing the commandments
or, alternatively, to neutralize the influence of Mars. This approach
could be the foundation for the principle of the Torah’s relativity
(antinomianism), due to the correspondence between the situation of
the people of Israel in the desert and their unique astrological circum-
stances. Alconstantin certainly considered it important to draw posi-
49 See Yitzhak Heinemann, The Reasons for the Commandments in the Tradition
[Hebrew], vol. 1 (Jerusalem: WZO, 1966), 68-69. Shabtai Donolo was the thinker
who set the foundations for an astrological explanation of the commandments. See
Ronald C. Kiener, “The Status of Astrology in the Early Kabbalah: From the Sefer
Yetzirah to the Zohar,” in The Beginnings of Jewish Mysticism in Medieval Europe ed. Yosef
Dan (Jerusalem: Defense Ministry, 1987), 1-42.
50 The Hebrew word Tsedek denotes both justice and Jupiter. Alconstantin means
both.
51 Alconstantin, Megalleh Amuqqot, 77b-78a.
tive stellar emanation to every single location. Given the magic-astral

explanation of almost the entire Torah, we can also understand the
statement claiming that every commandment gives the individual “a
power that protects him due to that specific commandment,” whereas
a person observing many commandments becomes a kelal [general,
as opposed to particular], which is released from preordained astro-
logical edicts.52 Franco concurs with Alconstantin and comments on
Ibn Ezra’s exegesis:
On what he [Ibn Ezra] said, “Jacob therefore said, ‘the angel who
redeemed me from all evil’ [Genesis 48: 16], means the evil destined to
come upon me; and this is the mystery of the whole Torah.”53 The laws
of the Torah and the sacrifices performed on specific days are meant
to endow us with power, and lead to our communion with God, so as
to save people from the evil destined to befall them according to the
stellar constellation.54
Such an approach is obviously predicated upon a consistent magic-
astral interpretation of the commandments, able to explain the unique
action and influence of every single religious act. This interpretation,
however, was implicit in the rationalist exegeses, since the thinkers
mentioned knew that their approach was bold and radical, and they
conveyed this clearly when explaining worship in the Temple and in
the Tabernacle, as shown below. Let us consider a few examples of
the terse and consciously esoteric style adopted by these thinkers. The
explanation for keeping the Sabbath, which is exclusively focused on
drawing down Saturn’s emanation, is presented as a hint intimated
in the Torah:
We have a hint in our holy Torah, stating that we have a special
disposition and capability on the Sabbath to absorb a divine emana-
tion through Saturn, which governs on that day. On that account, the
Torah singled out the observance of the Sabbath from the rest of the
commandments.55
Another source in Alconstantin’s writings includes a description of the
commandment of charity (tsedakah) as affecting the positive influence
52 Ibid., 70a.
53 Ibn Ezra, Commentary on Exodus 6:3.
54 Franco, supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Torah, 65a. I
discuss in the next section the use of sacrifices for drawing down spirituality.
55 Alconstantin, Megalleh Amuqqot, 22a, cited in Ibn Zarza, Mikhlol ha-Yofi, 2:126
a-b. Compare to Franco’s supercommentary, 79a.

106 chapter four
of Jupiter (Tsedek), reflecting the etymological affinity between the two

Hebrew words.56 Following Ibn Ezra himself, many thinkers link the
laws of ritual purity to specific astrological circumstances. One instance
is the explanation of the practice of sprinkling the leper’s earlobe when
he undergoes a purification ritual. According to Ibn Zarza, the linkage
is predicated on the parallel between the individual and the world,
whereby “the ears represent Saturn and Jupiter, since they are the
highest of all bodily organs, as Saturn and Jupiter are the highest of
the seven planets.” The right ear is therefore influenced by Saturn,
which causes a foul smell, and the sprinkling is meant to neutralize
this influence.57 At the same time, one of the reasons given for the
commandment of the red heifer was that sprinkling blood was meant
to neutralize the emanation from Mars.58 The entire Torah was thus
explained according to astrological principles, paving the way for the
astral magical outlook.
Tabernacle, Temple and Sacrifices

The magic-astral version reaches an unprecedented peak in the blunt
and daring explanation of the functioning of the Tabernacle and the
Temple as talismans for drawing stellar powers. Generally, the exegetes’
starting point is that “the Tabernacle was built in the model of the
56 Alconstantin, Megalleh Amuqqot, 93a.

57 Ibn Zarza, Meqor Hayyim, 69a. This interpretation of sprinkling as a magical
technique appears to fit Ibn Zarza’s view better than the one assuming he relies on
notions of hygiene to explain sprinkling. See also next note.
58 Alconstantin, Megalleh Amuqqot, 100 a-b. Incidentally, sprinkling [haza’ah] itself
was considered a magical technique in this circle. For instance, Ibn Zarza noted
that the two words mah zeh (what is) are combined into one in God’s question to
Moses in the verse in Exodus 4:2: “What is [mazeh] that in thy hand?” Ibn Zarza
holds this hints to a known magical technique (mazeh equalling haza’ah], though he
has reservations about it:
“I have seen an extremely strange interpretation of this verse, as follows … and
you must know that magic was then widespread in all the lands, and particularly in
Egypt, and mainly through sprinkling. Whoever wishes to understand the truth of
the miracle must first understand, above all, the essence of magic, and that is the
reason for the question “what is [mazeh] in thy hand” in one word” (Ibn Zarza, Meqor
Hayyim 32b). The sprinkling of the blood was thus one of the rod’s characteristics and
of its power to work miracles. On the magical features attributed to the sprinkling
of blood, see W. Robertson-Smith, Lectures on the Religion of the Semites—First Series:
The Fundamental Institutions (Edinburgh: A. and C. Black, 1889), 233, 369, and index,
s.v. “blood.”
supernal world,”59 namely, the Tabernacle and its utensils symbolize

the celestial bodies or, at least in part, parallel the celestial world.60
The way is thereby paved for presenting the Tabernacle’s utensils as
means for drawing down the stellar powers and as “drawing down
influence and emanation.”61 Franco clarifies this principle through a
comparison with the brass serpent made to heal those bitten:
The intention of this sage [Ibn Ezra] in these matters is that everything
should be done to have the emanation of these forces reach the earth
and their noble recipients, and to protect the earth when it is ruled by
the sword of the enemies besieging them.62 Each one of these matters
must have the same effect on the same matters and in the same places
and from the same metals, and so it is with the brass serpent that was
made in order to heal those bitten, as explicitly written in the books of
this wisdom, and this explains the concern of all the verses dealing with
worship at the Tabernacle.63
Gatigno, who was influenced by Franco, formulates a systematic prin-
ciple: “Concerning the shape of the Tabernacle and its implements,
everything was done to draw down the supreme power to attain the
intelligibles and also to predict the future, and particularly in the
cherubim, which were only made for this purpose, namely, to draw
down the supreme power.”64 All these interpretations rest on Ibn

60 According to Ibn Zarza, for instance, the Tabernacle is an “image of the world”
(Meqor Hayyim, 51c); also, “the house and the utensils that Solomon wrought… all
were made in the image of the supernal, the middle, and the lower world,” Mikhlol
ha-Yofi, Paris Ms., 729-730, 1:147b). On the details of the parallel, in which the
realm of celestial bodies plays a crucial role in the Tabernacle and the Temple, see
Dov Schwartz, The Religious Philosophy of R. Samuel ibn Zarza [Hebrew] (Ph. D. diss.,
Bar Ilan University, 1989),1: 218-220. This principle was widespread in Spanish
philosophical hermeneutics until Isaac Abrabanel.
61 This is Alconstantin’s wording. See Megalleh Amuqqot, 71b, 78a, 96a, and
others. Compare to Ibn Mayor, ha-Ma’or ha-Gadol, 149a: “If they preserve God’s
worship [in the Tabernacle] their sign will retain the power, as it did when building
the Tabernacle.”
62 Up to this point, cited also in Ibn Mayor, ha-Ma’or ha-Gadol, 149a, without
mention of the author. Ibn Mayor concludes: “And in all these matters we should
not try to find out why this was necessary, because God’s thoughts are deep and
beyond human grasp.”
63 Franco, supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Torah, Oxford
Bdl. Ms. 1258, 72a. For further discussion see Dov Schwartz, “More on ‘Greek Sci-
ence’ in Fourteenth Century Jewish Thought” [Hebrew] Sinai 105 (1990), 94-95.
64 Gatigno, Sod Adonai le-Yere’av, 265b. The foundations of Gatigno’s magic-astral
system are presented at length in Dov Schwartz, Amulets, Properties, and Rationalism in
108 chapter four
Ezra’s laconic statement, “the burnt offerings also contain profound

allusions to the mysteries of the future, and in every offering one
should contemplate the mystery of nature.”65 The representation of
the Tabernacle as symbolizing celestial elements leads, as noted, to
an astral magical interpretation: the Temple’s activity—offering sacri-
fices—is designed to attract and manipulate the spirituality of celestial
bodies symbolized in the sacrificed animals and birds. As Alconstantin
states: “Though the sacrifice, the flow and the emanation will come
down from above, and force spirituality down.”66
As we saw concerning the principle formulated by Gatigno following
Ibn Ezra, one special benefit that can be drawn from the Tabernacle’s
implements is the divination of the future through a unique combina-
tion of the act of sacrifice and the accompanying burning of incense.
In Franco’s supercommentary on Ibn Ezra, cited at length below, we
find a comprehensive theoretical formulation of the sacrifices’ magi-
cal purpose:
A single commandment may serve many different purposes, like the
commandments of the burnt offering and other sacrifices. One is that
everyone in Israel will furnish the payment for the daily burnt offering
to be brought according to the law, so that they will not be defeated
in war nor will any sword go through the land,67 as explained above.68
The sacrifices also serve utilitarian purposes, because they bring down
the supreme forces through which one may predict the future, as it is
said, the Shekhinah would depart if they did not keep the law of the daily
burnt offering.69 One should learn from every sacrifice the mystery of
nature, namely, learn from the things offered upon the altar about their
nature and their importance. For instance, females are not used for the
burnt offering, due to its importance, and so it is concerning each one
of the sacrifices: one brings a ewe, another a goat, and another turtle-
Medieval Jewish Thought [Hebrew] (Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University Press, 2004), 80-93.
On the uses of sacrifice for forecasting the future, as stated in Ibn Ezra, see below.
65 Ibn Ezra, Commentary on Leviticus 1:1. Ibn Ezra appears to have endorsed
the view that stellar forces enable knowledge of the future through the appropriate
technique. The approach stating that spirituality reveals knowledge in general and
the future in particular, appears in such tracts as Picatrix, whereas in Sefer ha-Tamar,
knowledge is confined to the future. See Pines, “Le Sefer ha-Tamar et les Maggidim
des Kabbalistes,” 355-356.
66 Alconstantin, Megalleh Amuqqot 41b-42a
67 According to Leviticus 26:6.
68 In his supercommentary on Ki Tisa (Exodus 30-34), 73a, Franco states that
sacrifices save from death, hinting there as well at magical connotations.

69 Ibn Ezra at locum.
doves, each according to his concern, and so it is with the things being
sacrificed—the fat and the blood—because they are the essence of the
body. Since the spiritual part of the body is in the blood, it will help
to draw down the spirituality and will ransom the person offering the
sacrifice serving one further purpose—the sin-offerings and the [food]
portions to be given to the teachers of Torah, who are the priests.70
The sacrifices, then, are brought in order “to preserve the disposition
of the earth.”71 Franco cites a series of benefits, and bases Ibn Ezra’s
commentary on a distinctive magic-astral denotation. Franco interprets
the influence of the Shekhinah (“the Shekhinah will return to its place”)
as stellar emanation. In his view, all the details of the sacrifices and
their different kinds reflect various technical needs concerning the
drawing down of spirituality. While referring to the positive sides
of the sacrifice, Franco also refers to its role as “ransom,” a topic
discussed below.
Following Ibn Ezra and his exegetes, Franco and Gatigno, Ibn
Mayor also explains prediction through astral magic: “Because the act
of sacrifice is meant for its own sake and is extremely useful, since it
brings the Shekhinah to dwell among those who know how to attract
the supreme power through the pleasant odor, and they know what is
to come.”72 The ephod, the breastplate, and the Urim and the Thummim
also contribute to the foretelling of the future.73 Ibn Shaprut emphasizes
the theurgic consequence of drawing down the spirituality from the
Temple, so that the activity performed in the Temple intensifies the
positive astral forces unique to the people of Israel (Saturn), thereby
enhancing the emanation upon them.74
70 Franco, supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Torah, 74b.

71 Ibid., 79b, in reference to the sacrifices offered during the festivals. Literally:
kibbul, what is received (on earth).
72 See Ibn Mayor, ha-Ma’or ha-Gadol, 167b.
73 Ibid., 153b-154a. Ibn Mayor compared the relationship between the intel-
lectual generic form and the concrete actual form to that between the celestial form
and the recipient of its influence: “They imitate God in this matter, as He spreads
his emanation through the celestial bodies and through the forms upon all terrestrial
orders, and this is how [knowledge] of the future is attained through prophecy”
(ibid.). The magical explanation is given in the context of other interpretations of
Ibn Mayor, although he often cites the commentary of Gersonides, whose focus is
psychological. See below, ch. 5.
74 This is Ibn Shaprut’s commentary on the rabbinic legend “God will not enter
the heavenly Jerusalem until the earthly Jerusalem is built” (TB Ta#anit 5a; see also
Tanhuma Pequddei 1; Midrash on Psalms, ed. Solomon Buber, 122d): “The author of the
110 chapter four
As noted, the Temple activity exerts its influence not only in the
positive constructive sense of drawing down spirituality, but also as a
preventive force able to neutralize, for instance, the destructive and
negative spirituality emanating from a particular star. This statement is
prominent in the exegeses of Ibn Ezra’s commentators on the sacrifice
that Noah offered after leaving the ark, “…or to attract the supreme
power.”75 Following are some of these commentaries:
[Noah] attracted the supreme power that may rescue him from
his misfortune (Franco).76
To bring down the power of the supreme stars that rule over him
in order to help himself (Bonfils).77
Saturn and Jupiter are the cause behind [the power of] the exist-
ing planets and now, when they are at their zenith, a sacrifice
was required to their rulers [Saturn and Mars] (Ibn Mayor under
the name “Ba#al ha-Sodot”).78
Ibn Zarza presents Ibn Ezra’s magic-astral option as an absolute
exegetical truth. He even formulates the general principle: “Know
that the star’s wrath is its harm, and the sacrifice assuages it.”79 In
the terms coined by anthropologist Raymond Firth, the drawing down
of spirituality through sacrifices fits the categories of both productive
and defensive magic. The most obvious magic-astral mechanism of
sacrifice is in its capacity as “ransom,” namely, the sacrifice directs
midrash means that, in specific places, God’s miracles, his glory and his honor, will
appear according to the power of the supreme servant. The planet of the Temple
is Saturn, which is the planet of the people of Israel, as astrologists have agreed
and as Ibn Ezra, of blessed memory writes on Terumah [Exodus 25-27:19). Hence,
when the people of Israel worship at the Temple, the power of celestial Jerusalem is
enhanced, but in their absence, it wanes. And it is called Jerusalem because of the
verse ‘for out of Zion shall come Torah, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem’
(according to Isaiah 2:3; Micha 4:2) and Saturn influences the power of speech, and
of knowledge, and of insight, and knowledge of the mysteries, and of asceticism, and
of God’s worship” (Pardes Rimmonim 33a).
75 Ibn Ezra, Commentary on Genesis 9:21.
76 Franco’s supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Torah, 55a.
78 Ibn Mayor, ha-Ma’or ha-Gadol, 29a. Solomon Ibn Ya#ish adds a dimension
from nature to Ibn Ezra’s comment: “When the air is good, the spheres and their
movement spoil it, all the more so when they find it [the air] spoilt, but the sacrifice
brings down its power and then they will not lose it” (supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s
commentary on the Torah, Vatican Ms. 4, 54, 242a).
79 Ibn Zarza, Meqor Hayyim, 11a. On the technique of “ransom,” see above, ch.
3.
the negative astral influence from the subject offering the sacrifice
to the sacrificed object, as evident regarding scapegoats. The com-
mentators, however, emphasize that predicting the future attained in
magical ways through the sacrifice is also included in the term ransom.
As Ibn Mayor notes:
The reason for the commandment of sacrifices such as the burnt offering,
the sin offering, the guilt offering, the freewill offering, and the peace
offering, is that they are ransom [kofer] for the people bringing them.
These people seek shield and cover, because ransom means cover, from
the root kaporet [the cover of the holy ark]. Cover is attained by predict-
ing the future, enabling one to escape the injuries of plague and sword
by using counsel, shield, and ransom to avoid them.80
Finally, note an exegesis explaining the Tabernacle’s magic activity
as the neutralization of astrological influence. According to Bonfils,
the people of Israel were commanded to build the Tabernacle
to release them from the dominion of the stars, so that they would
have no rulers except the prince of the world, Michael, the prince of
the interior, the Active Intellect… And he did all this for them so that
they would resemble the chariot and receive power from God without
mediators, as the world receives it from Him, may He be blessed. At
the beginning, therefore, when God created the patriarchs, he created
them to so as resemble the supreme chariot.81
Bonfils preserves the magic-astral construct by stating that the pur-
pose of the Tabernacle had been to draw power from the supreme
world. He replaces magic-astral emanation, however, with direct divine
emanation. The Tabernacle, then, reflects the celestial realm so as
to circumvent its influence and receive the emanation at the highest
level. Acceptance of the magic-astral construct while exchanging it
for another kind of emanation was widespread in kabbalistic circles,
which discuss the drawing down of emanation from the sefirot, as
80 Ibn Mayor, ha-Ma’or ha-Gadol, 167b.

81 Bonfils, Tsafenat Pa#aneah, 2: 89. Bonfils alludes to the saying, “the patriarchs
are God’s chariot,” which appears recurrently in Genesis Rabbah, for instance in 47:
6. The interpretation of the commandments as a means for overriding the celestial
constellation appears in Ibn Zarza’s explanation of public prayer (Mikhlol Yofi, 2:192b):
“It is well known that the general defeats the particular, and when the public prays
they become the general and their prayer is heard. Although the signs (in whose realm
the nations of the world are found) determine this, no determination applies to them
[the people of Israel], because the particular cannot defeat the general.”
112 chapter four
noted regarding Nahmanides.82 Bonfils was far removed from kab-

balistic doctrine,83 but shares with the kabbalists the transformative
conception of emanation.
In fourteenth-century Spain, the magic-astral pattern of thought and
its application to the Tabernacle and the sacrifices were not confined
to the Neoplatonic circle. Other thinkers, such as Hasdai Crescas
and his group, also resort to a magic-astral style. When explaining
the Tabernacle and the sacrifices, Crescas routinely relies on two
assumptions:
1. The Tabernacle utensils symbolize an emanation originating in the
celestial world, which is symbolized by “light,” and the indication
of this principle is the candelabrum.84
2. The sacrifices were meant to move the people away from idolatry,
despite the affinities between the Temple sacrifices and idolatry.85
The direct magic-astral consequence emerges in the following pas-
sage by Crescas on the sacrifices:
The sacrifices involve a wondrous trace and imitation of their being a
ransom for our souls, as if through them we were sacrificing ourselves
to His worship, and as if we were nothing, all the more so when we
compare ourselves to God’s glory. Through the sacrifices, those bringing
the offerings will attain the emanation, the abundance, and a perceptible
and imperceptible conjunction with the light of the Shekhinah, to the point
where they will sometimes feel the fire’s descent from Heaven.86
The main participants in the sacrificial acts are the priests, but the
children of Israel also participate in “part of the sacrifices” in order
to receive the emanation. Crescas’ recourse to the magic-astral ele-
ment is also clearly evident in his discussion on the Land of Israel.87
Crescas’ disciple, Zarhyiah Halevi, also states:

83 See Schwartz, The Philosophy of a Fourteenth Century Jewish Neoplatonic Circle, 43.
84 “It was proper for a candelabrum to be there. To show that the emanation of
light is from God it is linked to the number seven [it has seven branches] to point
to the seven planets receiving His emanation” (Hasdai Crescas, Or Adonai, 2:6, ch.
2; cited from Ferrara print, 1555, which is not paginated).
85 Ibid.: “In the various types of magic, which is a form of idolatry, they resort
to sacrifices and to the burning of abominations because God wished to keep us

away from anything that might lead to idolatry, and especially among those chosen
to do God’s worship, although it [idolatry] involves matters required for the purpose
of the Torah.”
86 Ibid..
87 Zeev Harvey, “The Uniqueness of the Land of Israel in the Thought of Crescas”
Balaam was wise and he built seven altars, one for each of the seven
supreme servants [the planets], in order to find which one ruled Israel.
Through the sacrifice, he meant to obtain the emanation that would
enable him to do with them as he wished. When he saw that the Lord
was with them, he said that the people of Israel did not need a serpent
and magic to draw down the emanation whenever they wished.88
Crescas and his circle, then, acknowledge the reality of astral magic
and turn it into a theological element, which has a place in Divine
Providence and in the sacrifices. The difference between Crescas’ and
the Neoplatonic circles, however, is patently evident. Whereas the
latter view astral magic as a crucial consideration in their discourse
and a prominent element often guiding their reflections, Crescas
focuses his philosophical interests on other issues, such as his critique
of Aristotelianism and his personal notion of conjunction with God,
as presented in his treatise Or Adonai.
In the broad range of hermeneutical approaches that developed in
the fourteenth century, then, the Tabernacle is perceived as a talis-
manic source, offering numerous options for implementing magic-astral
techniques in various ways.
Demons as Astral Forces
Critique
In the ninth path of his tract Shevilei Emunah [Paths of Faith], which
deals with reward and punishment, Meir Aldabi devotes a few lines
to the definition of demons and their characteristics. The passage is
taken verbatim from Nahmanides’ commentary on the Torah, without
mentioning Nahmanides’ name.89 At the end, Aldabi explains why he
[Hebrew], in The Land of Israel in Medieval Jewish Thought, ed. Moshe Hallamish and
Aviezer Ravitzky (Jerusalem: Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, 1991), 157-158. On the magical
powers of the divine name in Crescas doctrine see idem, “Kabbalistic Elements in
Crescas’ Or Adonai” [Hebrew], Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 2 (1983), 85-88.
88 Joshua Heschel Schor, “R. Zarhyiah’s Commentary,” He-Halutz 7 (1865),
99.
89 See Nahmanides, Commentary on the Torah, on Leviticus 17:7, which suggests
the following definition of demons: “Know that just as the formation of the original
Creation of man’s body as well as that of all living creatures, vegetation and minerals
was from the four elements, which were combined by Divine power to form mate-
rial bodies which as a result of their thickness and coarseness could be perceived by
the five senses, even so there was a creation from only two elements, fire and air,
114 chapter four
addresses this question, which is not pertinent to the chapter: “I have

digressed in this lengthy explanation of demons, since I have noted
that some in our nation question and deny the existence of demons.”90
At the beginning of the fifteenth century, we find a similar critique,
in far stronger terms, by Shem Tov ben Shem-Tov:
The aim of this chapter [the fifth] is to strengthen faith in the literal
reading of the Torah and the sages concerning the existence of demons,
harmful spirits, forces of impurity, angels of destruction, and sorcery,
as well as in the public’s faith in them. Let me say that subtle thinkers
deny this because this is not something they have either experienced
or, even more so, grasped with their reason. They deny anything that
the intellect denies and has not been experienced, and do not rely on
the tradition.91
We can plausibly assume that both Aldabi and Shem Tov ben Shem
Tov take to task the philosophical tradition that denies demons any
real existence. Such a tradition is indeed found in the writings of
the rationalist circle we are discussing, which was already thriving in
Aldabi’s time,92 and the last of whose members were still active in
Shem Tov ben Shem Tov’s times.
Furthermore: special importance attaches to this issue in the wake
of the anti-Christian controversy. Scholastic thinkers devote many
resulting in a body which cannot be felt, nor perceived by any of the senses, just as
the soul of an animal cannot be perceived by human senses because of its delicacy.
The body [of these creatures of two elements] is of a spiritual nature; on account of
its delicacy and lightness it can fly through fire and air…” (as cited in Shevilei Emunah
[Warsaw, 1887, 91d]). Aldabi thus suggests, following Nahmanides, that demons are
real entities made up from the light elements (fire and water) and active in the world.
Nahmanides’ view of demons was widely accepted among Spanish halakhists, and
also greatly influenced magical conceptions in Ashkenaz. See, for instance, Yitzhak
bar Sheshet, Responsa, ed. David Metzger (Jerusalem: Machon Or ha-Mizrah, 1993),
1: 82, #92. Compare Abraham Hershman, Rabbi Isaac bar Sheshet Perfet and His Times
(New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1943), 89-91; Joshua Trachten-
berg, Jewish Magic and Superstition (New York: Atheneum, 1979), 30-34; Israel Jacob
Yuval, Scholars in Their Time: The Religious Leadership of German Jewry in the Late Middle
Ages [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1989), 290-291; Israel Ta-Shma, Ha-Nigle
she-Banistar—The Halakhic Residue in the Zohar: A Contribution to the Study of the Zohar
[Hebrew] (Tel-Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuhad, 1995), 31.
90 Aldabi, Shevilei Emunah, 92a.
91 Shem Tov ben Shem Tov, Sefer ha-Emunot (Ferrara: Abraham Oshki, 1556),
47b. According to Shem Tov ben Shem Tov, this realm deserves a chapter of its
own because of the theory of the left emanation, and because he adopted the demo-
nological doctrine of the Zohar.
92 Shevilei Emunah was written in 1360.
discussions to the standing of angels, to their sin and fall, which influ-
ence Jewish sages and also lead them to react.93 The various polemical
texts address this issue in the context of the problem of evil and sin.
Thus, for instance, Crescas and Ibn Shaprut devote a special chapter
to demons in their anti-Christian writings.94 The issue of demons also
evokes interest in the philosophical circle that presents astral magic
as a central theological concern, and the responses of these thinkers
are analyzed below.
Demons as Creatures of Fancy

The attitude to demons among thinkers of this circle appears in
two types of sources. In the first, these thinkers deny altogether that
demons are real. Instead, they are perceived as products of a sick
imagination and as delusions, not as actually existing. In the second
type of sources, demons are identified as heteronomic forces coming
from the stellar system (the spirituality) and, as such, as possessing real
existence rather than as products of the imagination. The difference
between these sources could be postulated as a development. At the
first stage, demons are presented solely as fantasies. At the second
stage, these thinkers discover a translation of a treatise ascribed to Ibn
Ezra (Sefer ha-Atsamim), describing demons as stellar forces. Confirma-
tion for this hypothesis can be found in the explicit claims of at least
two of these thinkers—Ibn Shaprut and Ibn Mayor—stating that they
reconsidered and even changed their attitude after discovering this
treatise. Sources written by thinkers from this circle, analyzed below,
corroborate this assumption.
Let us begin with Ibn Zarza. Commenting on Noah’s drunkenness,
he formulates a principle: “The truth is that, if one drinks unduly, the
demon will touch him and confuse his intellect, which is in the brain.”95
We can conclude, then, that the demon is the power disrupting and
damaging the mind, namely, the imagination. Following Alconstantin,
93 See, for instance, the attitude of Hillel ben Samuel of Verona on this issue in
Joseph B. Sermonetta, “The Defeat of the Angels” [Hebrew], in Memorial Book for
Jacob Friedman, ed. Shlomo Pines and David Rosenthal (Jerusalem: Hebrew Univer-
sity, 1974), 155-203.
94 Hasdai Crescas, Sefer Bittul Iqqarei ha-Notsrim, trans. Joseph ben Shem Tov, ed.
Daniel J. Lasker (Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University, 1990), 90-93 (see also Joseph ben
Shem Tov’s comments, 93-95); Shem Tov ibn Shaprut, Even Bohan, Florence Ms.,
Laurenziana 17, Plut II, 63a-64a.
95 Ibn Zarza, Meqor Hayyim 11c.
116 chapter four
Ibn Zarza equates the “demon’s deed” with “worthless groundless

fantasies.”96 The damage caused by demons emerges through their
comparison with goats:
Demons were called goats, as it says, “And they shall no more offer
their sacrifices to the se#irim” [satyrs] (Leviticus 17:7), since they saw fit
to compare demons to them more than to other animals. The nature
of the goat is to cause blight and vast damage, so great that they called
the goat the angel of death, and the angel of death is Satan, as it is
said: “Resh Lakish said: Satan, the angel of death, and the evil instinct
are all one,”97 hence, it is proper to call them se#irim.98
This exegesis explains the reason for the commandment of the scape-
goat on the Day of Atonement. In this discussion, Ibn Zarza carefully
explains, “there is no Satan there, except for the nature of matter.”99
Bonfils adds the historicist explanation for this equation between goats
and demons: “Concerning God’s command to perform this ritual
with goats rather than with another animal, the reason was that in
Egypt they used to offer sacrifices to the demons, who are the se#irim
and are goats, hence the offerings to what is worshipped…”100 The
demon, then, is a pathological manifestation of the disruptive imagination. Ibn
Zarza describes this pathology in detail:
They [the philosophers]101 have written about why a person sees in a
reverie forms that are not real: when the intellect, because of a certain
sickness, is too weak to deny the creations of the imagination, and the
sick person sees forms that do not exist outside. As his fear grows and
becomes awesome, he will think more and more of whatever terrifies him
and give it form, and the intellect that could deny this grows weaker,
96 Ibid., 34d, according to Alconstantin, Megalleh Amuqqot, 64a.

97 TB Bava Bathra 16a.
98 Ibn Zarza, Meqor Hayyim, 71b.
99 Ibn Zarza repeats this statement in Mikhlol Yofi, 2:137a. This passage is copied
(without mentioning the author) from Jacob Anatoli, Malmad Talmidim (Lyck, Poland:
M#qize Nirdamim, 1866), 183b-184a.
100 Bonfils, Tsafenat Pa#aneah, 2: 18.
101 Ibn Zarza is certainly referring here to a periphrastic version of Aristotle’s
Parva Naturalia, or to a citation relying on it. See, for instance, Gersonides’ commen-
tary on Averroes’ abridged version of Parva Naturalia: “It may happen that someone,
when afraid or ill, will have a reverie, seeing or feeling with their senses things that
are not truly anywhere except inside himself.” See Alexander Altman, “Gersonides’
Commentary on Averroes’ Epitome of Parva Naturalia II: 3: Annotated Critical Edi-
tion,” PAAJR 46-47 (1980), 11-12, ll. 59-64. According to Gersonides, the masses
believe in demons, which “do not exist, all the more so demons that can foretell the
future” (10, ll. 35-36).
so he may come to see the terrifying thing with his own eyes. Hence,
the frightened and dispirited will see horrifying forms. This is also the
cause of the voices that sorcerers and necromancers hear.102
These forms, then, are not real, and their appearance is explained as
due to the imagination’s function. In passing, we learn that biblical
descriptions of magic do not reflect reality in any way. Ibn Zarza thus
returns to the Maimonidean perception of magic when interpreting
these passages, and the distinction between ordinary magic and astral
magic, which Ibn Zarza had acknowledged, is highlighted anew. In
the treatise Mikhlol Yofi, Ibn Zarza devotes long discussions to an
explanation that takes out many rabbinic sayings on demons from
their literal context. He opens these discussions as follows: “Many
mistakenly think there are satans and demons, and the reason for this
mistake is that they see deeds in the Talmud from which it appears
that there are satans and demons in the world that could bring harm,
and I will explain this at length.”103
Ibn Zarza ponders why believers in demons make this mistake,
and accepts Isaac Albalag’s explanation. Albalag offers an explanation
from physics, claiming phenomena in the nether world originate in
the action of celestial bodies. Heat and cold stem from the atmosphere
and the celestial realm, and people ascribe them to magical forces,
namely, to demons:
Since these forces originate in and are influenced by the spheres, ancient
sages used to refer to them as “angels falling [noflim] from the sky,” and
the Torah called them “Nefilim” [Numbers 13:33]. Since they sustain
the animal soul that leads man astray [mesatenet] from the path of the
intellect, they would call them satans and demons. This was the origin
of the popular belief in demons, and their sages would worship them
and bring offerings to them, seeing how they rule this world.104
In the course of dealing with the issue of demons, Ibn Zarza attacks
interpretations presenting the use of magic names as effective. In his
view, rabbinic statements dealing with the creation of a golem through
102 Ibn Zarza, Meqor Hayyim, 96d.

103 Idem, Mikhlol Yofi, 2:131a.
104 Isaac Albalag, Sefer Tikkun ha-De#ot, ed. Georges Vajda (Jerusalem: Israel
Academy of Sciences, 1973), 49, ll. 15-20. Albalag presented this view in his com-
mentary on the creation and the stories on paradise. Compare with the translation
and discussion in Georges Vajda, Isaac Albalag, Averroiste Juif: Traducteur et Annotateur
D’al-Ghazali (Paris: J. Vrin, 1960), 163-164. This passage is cited in Ibn Zarza, Mikhlol
Yofi, 2: 131a, and see also 133b.
118 chapter four
magical names should not be read literally.105 Clearly, then, Ibn Zarza
does not acknowledge the reality of intermediate creatures such as
demons and spirits who, at most, symbolize “bad thoughts and spu-
rious fantasies.”106 Adjuring demons becomes futile. More precisely:
the extensive discussion refuting the reality of demons appears in the
seventh chapter of Mikhlol Yofi, which is entirely devoted to ethos and
to moral and practical conduct, to show that demons are the passions
and hindrances that prevent the attainment of ethical and intellectual perfection.
According to this criterion, the series of legends on Asmadeus and
King Solomon is explained as the struggle between passions and desires
as opposed to the human intellect.107 These allegorical explanations
reflect the general trend of Ibn Zarza’s doctrine, which dismisses the
reality of demons.
Ibn Mayor follows in Ibn Zarza’s footsteps. He includes in his
explanation the central motif suggested and elaborated by Ibn Zarza,
namely, that demons are products of a wild and sick imagination.
Before this explanation, however, Ibn Mayor grants magical and
astrological meaning to this phenomenon, by presenting it as the
worship of the planet:
…as they would do in Egypt, which is ruled by Mars, where they wor-
shipped in the fields and with swords according to the power it has in
these places. “Into the open field” [Leviticus 14: 7] and “And they shall
no more offer their sacrifices to the se#irim,” refers to the demons108 of
which the sages speak relating to harmful stellar forces, and particularly
those of Mars, which is hot and dry.109
105 See Ibn Zarza, Mikhlol Yofi, 2: 134b-135a, commenting on TB Sanhedrin 65b:
“Some sages hold that the human being can create a creature through magic… and
some say that the calf was created ex nihilo, by combining the letters of His Name
through which the universe was created, and this is not an act of magic since this is
an act of God through his holiness. One must question this interpretation, however,
because Abaye said that these are the laws of magic and hence not an act of God.
Also, far be it from God to create through names or do deeds by actually combining
letters, as many believe.” See Moshe Idel, Golem: Jewish Magical and Mystical Traditions
on the Artificial Anthropoid (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 27-30.
Ibn Zarza then cites a list of sources that do accept the notion of making a golem,
among them Shem Tov ibn Falaquera. Ibn Zarza, however, obviously denies magic
through names, unless within a magic-astral context.
107 Ibid, 138a.
108 See Ibn Ezra’s Commentary on the Torah, Leviticus 17:7, 16 (Shachter, 87, 90).
109 Ibn Mayor, ha-Ma’or ha-Gadol, 188b-189a.
Ibn Mayor, however, then describes demons as figments of the imagi-

nation, referring also to the linkage between the cult of demons and
the psychological powers to foresee the future relying on the term
ba#alei ha-kihun:110
The ba#alei ha-kihun will also imagine them always as se#irim, whether in
a reverie or in a dream. When in a reverie, they appear as shadows
in the middle of the night because they resemble demons, and they
will always describe them as se#irim dancing according to their thought
and fantasy, as if saying, “se#irim shall dance there” [Isaiah 13: 21), and
also “the se#ir shall cry to his fellow” [Isaiah 34: 14]. Another reason
is that their dominant humor is black bile and they are hard and dry,
and he who overcame his black nature will be more ready for the kihun
than his fellow and will always see black things in his dreams and his
fantasies, resembling his temperament. Gersonides, of blessed memory,
commented on the verse “And they shall no more offer their sacrifices
to the se#irim” [Leviticus 17:7] by saying that this refers to demons,
meaning false fantasies leading them to think of that which is not god
as god.111 I think that since the matter of demons is ascribed to Saturn
[Shabbetai], as astrology shows, and because Capricorn is the house of
Saturn, the demons were called se#irim. But although Aquarius is also
the house of Saturn, these destructive fantasies coming from Saturn
are due to the black bile associated with the sign of Capricorn. Hence
the concern with Saturn, and not because of the nature of blood that
is associated with Aquarius.112
Ibn Mayor, then, approaches the cult of demons as a two-staged
process: in the first stage, the cult is perceived as a way of placating
and soothing the destructive astral force (as in the worship of Mars
in Egypt); in the second stage, the demons are a specific psychologi-
cal mood bordering on the psychedelic, wherein the priest halluci-
nates according to his physiological temperament (the black bile).
This perception is predicated on the influence of the planet, which
is Saturn, thus bringing back an astrological dimension to the cult
of demons. Ibn Mayor thus links demons with astrology, but at this
110 The term k§hin in Arabic means diviner or necromancer. Particularly after
the rise of Islam, the term came to mean priest or religious man. The meaning of
the root k-h-n is to tell the future. See Nahmanides, Commentary on the Torah, Deuter-
onomy 13:2; Raphael Jospe, “Ramban (Nahmanides) and Arabic” [Hebrew], Tarbiz
57 (1988), 89.
111 “…taking their falseness as far as bringing sacrifices to what appears as a deity
in their deceptive imagination when, in truth, these are demons.” Gersonides, Com-
mentary on the Bible (Venice: Bombirghi, 1547), 158b.
120 chapter four
stage he obviously tends to present them as fantasies and delusions.

Ibn Shaprut, who denies demons any reality in several of his writings,
can be added to the above list of thinkers.113
Demons as the Spirituality of the Stars

The analysis of the attitudes held by Ibn Zarza, Ibn Mayor, and Ibn
Shaprut toward demons shows that, although they hesitated, they
ultimately changed their minds concerning the reality of demons as
astral forces. The change took place due to a significant event: the
discovery of an important treatise including magic-astral elements, the
Sefer ha-Atsamim that, as noted, members of this circle ascribed to Ibn
Ezra. Sefer ha-Atsamim was translated into Hebrew at this time, and
immediately became part of these thinkers’ discourse.114 This treatise
identifies demons with the spirituality emanating from the stars, and
its discovery led to a revolution in the perception of demons among
members of this circle. According to Sefer ha-Atsamim, demons are
ontologically real entities rather than mere hallucinations. Demons
are henceforth perceived as celestial forces that can be drawn down
through adequate preparations prescribed by the rules of astral magic
and, moreover, can be used in order to harm opponents. Following
is the formulation in Sefer ha-Atsamim:
The fourth way is the lowest and most sunken, that is, other spirits are
created in the air through the spirituality of the stars … These bad
spiritualities emanate from the holy spiritualities as the shadow emanates
from the body, and they do not require preparation nor drawing down.
It will simply cleave to the one it encounters, who is of the same disposi-
tion and temperament, and at times will also come to another when he
draws them down, and these are called demons…115
Ibn Zarza refers to demons as “forces influenced by the spheres.”116
He is also ready to acknowledge the reality of various kinds of “pairs”
113 Frimer and Schwartz, The Life and Thought of Shem Tov ibn Shaprut, 157-160.
114 The translation was the work of Yaakov ibn Alfandri, apparently following Ibn
Zarza’s request, as the latter notes. Plausibly, then, the ascription of this text to Ibn
Ezra also originates in this circle. See Schwartz, The Religious Philosophy of R. Shemuel
ibn Zarza, 1:6, 28; 2:3, note 15, and see also Moshe Idel, “The Study Program of R.
Johanan Alemanno” [Hebrew], Tarbiz 48 (1979), 312, note 76.
115 Sefer ha-Atsamim, 16. I have introduced changes according to the version in
Ibn Zarza, Meqor Hayyim, 98b. An identical version to the original one by Ibn Zarza
appears also in the commentary of Shemuel Motot, Megillat Setarim, 25c.
(indirectly related to demons), but identifies the influence of Mars as

the source of the magic.117 Ibn Shaprut also writes: “And for him [Ibn
Ezra], demons are spiritual forces influenced by the harmful celestial
hosts, so they neither help nor harm.”118 In other words, the subject
of Ibn Shaprut’s discussion is the spirituality, which is intrinsically
neutral and can be mobilized by the magician for his own utilitarian
purposes. Ibn Shaprut explicitly struggles with the reality of demons in
several sources and, after discovering the Sefer ha-Atsamim, he is willing
to recognize them as real entities.119 Ibn Mayor also speaks about the
“book” by Ibn Ezra he had discovered, and “from what is written
there, it appears that his view on the reality of demons is that they
are created in the air through stellar spirituality, the last spirituali-
ties existing in the world…”120 and then quotes from Sefer ha-Atsamim
according to this passage. He too, then, is willing to acknowledge
the reality of demons. Thus, although these thinkers initially reject
the notion of any magical connotations attached to the concept of
demons and establish it on a delusion, they ultimately endow it with
a distinctive magic-astral meaning following the discovery of the
Sefer ha-Atsamim. Note that a connection between demons and astral
magic, in a different style, appears also in Judah ben Shemariah’s
commentary on the Torah.121 In this outlook, there is no room for
the popular practice of adjurations, exorcising demons, and so forth,
and no such beliefs should be ascribed to this circle.
Thinkers in this circle cannot accept the classic and medieval
views on demons as halfway creatures seeing and unseen, and the
117 Ibid., 2:139b. The meaning of the “pairs” is that the performance of a specific
activity in pairs leads to harm and sorcery. See TB Pesahim 109b.

118 Bonfils, Tsafenat Pa#aneah, Oxford Bdl. Ms 2359 (Opp. Add 4o 107), 168a.
119 Frimer and Schwartz, The Life and Thought of Shem Tov ibn Shaprut, 159. Shemuel
Motot too who, as noted, quotes from Sefer ha-Atsamim, unequivocally states: “And you
already know that the se#irim are the demons, and the demons are the spirits created
in the air through the power of the holy spiritualities, as the shadow is created from
the body” (Megilat Setarim, 36d).
121 “…and he killed them in the thousands and the tens of thousands, and they
are called demons, and mazikim, and angels of destruction, and they cause sickness
and death. That is why the burning of the herbs that eliminate the spirit of impurity is
helpful, because the powers of the stones and the herbs are spiritual powers emanating
from the supremes. And wise Empedocles convened them upon earth, and adjured
them, and found seven kinds of them” (Naomi Goldfeld, “Judah ben Shemaryah:
The Commentary on the Torah from a Genizah Manuscript,” Qovetz al-Yad, 10 NS
[20]1982, 155. See also ibid., 154.
122 chapter four
like. Hence, Aldabi’s and Shem Tov ibn Shem Tov’s critique remains
valid even after thinkers in this circle had reversed their views, and
perhaps because of it.
Conclusions
The discussion in this chapter leads to the following conclusions:

1. Magic and astrology: The analysis of magical techniques again
exposes the significant weight of active astrology among fourteenth-
century thinkers in Spain and its environs.
2. The reality of magic: These thinkers assume a clear division between
astral magic, which is real, and other magic. Astral magic is not
included within the biblical and talmudic boundaries of magic, and
becomes a significant hermeneutical and theological instrument.122
Various forms of magic are perceived as sleight of hand, and are
forbidden.
3. The status of astral magic: These thinkers clearly relate to this
realm as “wisdom.” The link connecting the various tecnhiques
of magic is indeed their definition as wisdom with the addition
of various honorable titles, such as great wisdom or ancient wisdom.
Note also the linkage of Neoplatonism, in a broad sense, to magic
in general and to its perception as wisdom in particular.
4. The paucity of practical knowledge: Thinkers in the fourteenth-cen-
tury Spanish circle have very superficial knowledge of magic-astral
techniques. Hardly ever do they offer a detailed proposal for even
one magic process. They are ready to hint at an interpretation of
a verse suggesting a specific magic technique, but do not provide
details. In this sense, this parallels their knowledge of astrology:
most of them refer to it recurrently throughout their commentar-
ies but only few possess detailed knowledge of it, or perhaps they
failed to formulate this professional dimension in writing.
The stunning power of astral magic as a theological factor of the first

order radiates far beyond the realm of Spanish culture, as illustrated
in its influence upon Byzantine culture.
122 On astrological material in the Talmud, see, e.g., Jacob Neusner, A History of
the Jews in Babylonia, vol. 5 (Leiden: Brill, 1970).
the controversy in provence 123
CHAPTER FIVE
THE CONTROVERSY IN PROVENCE
The Jewish communities of Provence and Christian Spain, besides their

obvious geographical proximity, were also similar in their cultures and
philosophical attitudes. Indeed, many historians of Jewish thought in
the Middle Ages do not distinguish between them, sometimes rightly,
sometimes unjustifiably. A closer scrutiny of the history of Jewish
thought in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, however, reveals
several significant differences between Jewish thought in Provence
and in Spain (mainly Castile). Two examples will suffice.
The first example, though mainly formal, is a good indication of
the difference in content. Jewish philosophical thought in contempo-
rary Provence was highly conservative in its choice of sources. Many
Provençal thinkers around the turn of the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries (such as the group of Kuzari commentators and the disciples of
Frat Maimon, that is, Solomon b. Menahem) generally quoted Jewish
sources written in Provence, from the thirteenth century and later, but
had little recourse—in some cases none whatever—to the writings of
Jewish thinkers in contemporary Spain.1 By contrast, rationalist Jewish
thinkers in Spain at that time frequently quoted from the works of
Provençal Jews, generally specifying their sources quite explicitly.2
Another example is the attitude of halakhists to abstract philosophical
1 This is obviously true of philosophical thought after Maimonides, and evidence
can be found in my forthcoming edition of the commentary of Solomon b. Judah of

Lunel to The Kuzari. See further sources in note 84 below. On Provençal thought in
the fourteenth century see Isadore Twersky, “Aspects of the Social and Cultural His-
tory of Provençal Jewry,” Journal of World History 11 (1968): 202-207. The difference
between Spanish and Provençal culture is manifest in different areas and periods.
See Binyamin Zeev Benedikt, The Torah Center in Provence [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Mosad
Harav Kook, 1985), 10-11. See also Israel Ta-Shma, Rabbi Zerahyah Halevi, Author of
Sefer ha-Ma"or and His Circle (Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1993), introduction and
138–141.
2 Among these were the members of a circle of thinkers with Neoplatonic leanings
whose astrological theories I discuss in my book. See Dov Schwartz, Astral Magic in
Medieval Jewish Thought (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1999), chs. 5 and 6.
These thinkers frequently discussed the writings of the Tibbonids, R. David Kimhi,
and Gersonides (including his commentaries on Averroes’ works), and so forth.
124 chapter five
issues. Many Spanish halakhists combined their rationalist delibera-

tions with a receptivity to kabbalistic concepts, as in the teachings of
Solomon b. Adret (Rashba) and his philosophical circle (Aaron Halevi,
Meir Aldabi, Menachem b. Zerah, Samuel b. Meshullam) and Nissim
of Gerona (Ran) and his disciples.3 In Provence, however, no such
receptivity is discernible. Philosophically minded halakhists, such as
Menachem b. Solomon ha-Meiri and David b. Samuel Kokhavi, did
not accept kabbalistic doctrines such as metempsychosis and the theory
of cyclic time, ignoring their very existence in their writings. Gener-
alizing, one might perhaps characterize the philosophical thought of
Provençal scholars in the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
as inclined to be rather conservative and rationalistically minded, as
against the more open attitudes of their Castilian or Navarran con-
temporaries.
One area in which the difference between Spanish and Provençal
thinkers is clearly discernible is their attitude to astral magic and the
debate over the very legitimacy of using such practices. We now pro-
ceed to study this debate.
Positions in the Debate over Magic
External Influences
With the exception of a minority, both Provençal and Spanish Jews
believed that astrology was a real, effective discipline. Several Jews
became professional astrologers and mastered the science of astronomy
in order to draw up astrological calculations. Some served as astro-
logical consultants in rulers’ courts. Since astrology was recognized as
a science, many thinkers and physicians also believed in the validity
of astral magic (as a technical discipline) and used it frequently in
everyday life. While some Spanish Jews expressed reservations about
the use of astral magic for both religious and philosophical reasons,4
such reactions did not, apparently, reach the dimensions of an out-
and-out public debate, as they did at the turn of the thirteenth and
3 See, for example, the use made by contemporary Spanish scholars of explicit
references to the words of the Tibbonids (Samuel and Moses b. Samuel ibn Tibbon),
Jacob Anatoli (known for his work Malmad ha-Talmidim), Gersonides, and Moses Narboni.
Anonymous quotations are sometimes found. See, for instance, note 86 below.
4 See ch. 6 below.
fourteenth centuries in Provence; moreover, it was the Provençals who

dragged the Barcelonan Rashba willy-nilly into the stormy debate.
It will be remembered that the debate was triggered by Abba Mari
Astruc of Lunel’s attacks on those who engaged in philosophy and
radical allegoristic exegesis of the Bible and preached their teachings
in public. The discovery that the rationalists were dabbling in astral-
magical medicine provided Abba Mari with yet another motive for
his zeal. He was convinced that healing by bringing down the stars’
spirituality upon effigies and images was idolatry. Rashba, however,
was not opposed to astral-magical practices, in fact declaring that his
teacher Nahmanides had used astrological charms for healing purposes.
Unlike the rationalists, however, he did not sanction such actions in all
cases but only for medical purposes. Rashba also banned the burning
of incense that accompanied the ceremony in which spirituality was
“brought down.” The letters that Abba Mari and Rashba exchanged
on the medical use of effigies attest to the vigorous tones of the debate
over the legitimacy of astral-magical practices.5 The debate, as well
as the controversies that preceded and followed it, spanned the entire
fourteenth century, as will be seen below, and were influenced by the
fact that non-Jewish physicians and scientists engaged in astral magic.
Joseph Shatzmiller has suggested that a professor of medicine named
Bernard Gordon, who used charms based on astral magic for healing
purposes and maintained scientific contacts with the Tibbonid Jacob
b. Machir, had some influence on Jewish physicians in Provence.6 In
the second half of the century there were other possible influences,
5 See Sefer Minhat Qena"ot, in Rashba, Responsa, ed. Hayyim Z. Dimitrovsky, Part 1,
vol. 1, 270 ff. See Louis Jacobs, Theology in the Responsa (London and Boston: Routledge
and Kegan Paul, 1975), 76–79. On the role of astral magic in the anti-Maimonidean
controversy see Joseph Shatzmiller, “In Search of the Book of Figures: Medicine
and Astrology in Montpellier at the Turn of the Fourteenth Century,” AJS Review 7/8
(1982/1983): 383-407; idem, “The Forms of the Twelve Constellations: A Fourteenth
Century Controversy” [Hebrew], in Shlomo Pines Jubilee Volume: On the Occasion of His
Eightieth Birthday, ed. Moshe Idel, Warren Zeev Harvey and Eliezer Schweid (Jerusalem:
Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought, 1988), 397-408. On the relationship between
Abba Mari and Rashba and the history of the ban in general see Joseph Sarachek,
Faith and Reason: The Conflict over the Rationalism of Maimonides (Williamsport, Pa.: Bayard
Press, 1935), 195–264; Joseph Shatzmiller, “The Negotiations between Abba Mari and
the Rashba which Preceded the Herem in Barcelona” [Hebrew], Studies in the History
of the Jewish People and the Land of Israel, vol. 3 (Haifa: Haifa University Press, 1975),
121–137; Marc Saperstein, “The Conflict over the Rashba’s Herem on Philosophical
Study: A Political Perspective,” Jewish History 1 (1986): 27–38.
6 Shatzmiller, “Forms of the Twelve Constellations,” 399.
126 chapter five
such as Guy de Chauliac, who practiced astrological medicine, and

Thomas of Bologne, who used astral magic to heal his patients at the
court of Charles V (“the Wise”), king of France.7
Four Positions
Given the popularity of astral magic both in the non-Jewish environ-
ment and in the Jewish world, Jewish physicians and astrologers, on
the one hand, and their outspoken opponents, on the other, had to
consider two basic questions. First, was the practice of astral magic
real and effective, or mere nonsense? Second, was it halakhically
permissible, or should it be condemned as idolatry?
Thinkers concerned with these questions had to take into account
those talmudic sources that deal with magic and consider it to be real
(such as TB Rosh ha-Shanah 24b). Maimonides ignored most of these
sources and discussed primarily the passages relating to medicine;
other thinkers, however, could not follow suit. Similarly, they had
to grapple with Maimonides’ weighty strictures against astral magic,
which had shaped the attitudes to this area among earlier Provençal
philosophers.
Provençal thought in the fourteenth century knew of four answers
to the two questions just posed and, accordingly, four major positions
toward astral magic can be delineated:
1. False and forbidden: Moderate rationalists rejected astral magic out
of hand, and therefore considered it halakhically forbidden. These
thinkers adopted Maimonides’ uncompromising stance, accord-
ing to which astral magic lacked all reality and was prohibited.
They accepted the content, style, and language of Maimonides’
approach (Menahem Meiri, David Kokhavi). Some rationalists
saw fit to ignore the issue almost entirely, probably because they
denied the reality of astral magic (Joseph Ibn Kaspi).
2. Dubious and forbidden: This was the opinion of the traditionalists,
who consistently opposed the radical rationalists, in fact accus-
ing the latter among other things of engaging in astral magic for
7 See Lynn Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, vol. 3 (New
York: Columbia University Press, 1964), 32–33, 519. On the currency of magical
concepts in scholastic thought, see also Bert Hansen, “Science and Magic,” in Sci-
ence in the Middle Ages, ed. David C. Lindberg (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1978), 483-506.
medical purposes (Abba Mari, Jacob b. Solomon ha-Zarfati). They

too, like the moderate rationalists, prohibited astral magic, though
not entirely rejecting the reality of astral-magical practice. They
typically associated astral-magical practice with the magicians’
inclination to philosophize; in their view, rationalist philosophy
inevitably led to astral-magical practices.
3. False as to its reality but psychologically effective, and forbidden:
Some thinkers denied astral magic any reality as a means for
capturing the spirituality of a star, but believed that the magical
practice had some psychological effect. Nevertheless, they too con-
sidered astral-magical practices halakhically forbidden (Gersonides,
Jedaiah ha-Penini). This was in a sense an intermediate position,
though closer to that of the moderate rationalists; these thinkers
may in fact be considered a subgroup of the first group.
4. True and permitted: Some thinkers had no doubt as to the reality
of astral magic (Nissim of Marseille, Frat Maimon), and indeed
considered it halakhically legitimate (Levi b. Abraham). In fact,
they made of astral magic a theological principle that could be
used to explain various biblical issues.
One marginal position recognized the reality of astral magic but
rejected its use from an ethical and religious point of view (Solomon
b. Judah of Lunel).
We shall now discuss the main positions of Provençal thinkers on
astral magic, with emphasis on the halakhic and philosophical aspects
of the controversy that flared up at the beginning of the fourteenth
century. In that context, it will be pointed out that the rationalists
had internalized the principles of astral magic to such an extent that
they employed them in continuous biblical exegesis. Attention will
also be devoted to Hermetic traditions that gained acceptance among
Provençal rationalists and became a permanent feature of Provençal
culture. This discussion should help to understand two typical figures
of late medieval Provence—the rationalist in search of wisdom, on the
one hand, and the conservative traditionalist, on the other.
Twofold Prohibition: The Moderate Rationalists
Provence was the venue of a philosophical circle consisting of Nah-

manides’ supporters and admirers, whose distinctive marks are dis-
cernible in the various stages of the anti-Maimonidean controversy.
Around the turn of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, some
128 chapter five
thinkers relied absolutely on Maimonides’ authority. They quoted

him directly or expressed their own views in his halakhic and philo-
sophical style. They had internalized Maimonides’ teachings literally,
without detecting antinomian secrets or radical esoteric meanings in
his writings. In this respect, they parted ways with Provençal thinkers
of the thirteenth century such as Samuel ibn Tibbon and Jacob Ana-
toli, whose commentaries on The Guide of the Perplexed were explicitly
esoteric.8 This statement is also true of the attitude to astral magic
among Maimonides’ fourteenth-century supporters. They quoted him
copiously (Code, Laws of Idolatry, and Guide 3:37) and, following his
lead, denied that any appeal to stellar powers had any reality, whether
that of bringing down spirituality onto images or any other action
based on experientialism, such as the use of segullot. Again following
Maimonides, they invoked the halakhic prohibition on fashioning
images for medical purposes, that is, fashioning a metal reproduc-
tion of a heavenly constellation and placing it on the diseased part
of the body under the corresponding sign of the Zodiac in order to
capture its influence. Among such thinkers were Menahem Meiri,9 who
supported the rationalist stand in the controversy over philosophical
studies and in fact refused to endorse the ban issued by R. Solomon
b. Adret and his court, and also David b. Samuel Kokhavi;10 both of
these scholars discussed making images for medical purposes in the
context of their consideration of the prohibition of soothsaying and
its halakhic definition (Deuteronomy 18:10).
8 See Aviezer Ravitzky, “Samuel ibn Tibbon and the Esoteric Character of the
Guide of the Perplexed,” AJS Review 6 (1981): 87–123; idem, “The Secrets of the Guide of
the Perplexed Between the Thirteenth and Twentieth Centuries,” in Isadore Twersky, ed.,
Studies in Maimonides (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1990), 159–207.
9 See, for instance, Menahem ha-Meiri, Beit ha-Behirah, Tractate Shabbat, ed.
Yitzhak Shimshon Lange (Jerusalem: n.p. 1976), 67a, 250, and see further below.
Meiri was influenced by his teacher, Reuben b. Hayyim, also essentially a charac-
teristic rationalist supporter of Maimonides, as reflected in his Sefer ha-Tamid (ed.
Yaakov Moshe Toledano, Otsar ha-Hayyim 7-8 [1931–1932]). For Meiri’s attitude to
Maimonides as a halakhic authority and philosopher see Benedikt, The Torah Center in
Provence, 184–191; J. David Bleich, “Divine Unity in Maimonides, the Tosafists, and
Me"iri,” in Lenn E. Goodman, ed., Neoplatonism and Jewish Thought (Albany: SUNY
Press, 1992), 242–251; Gregg Stern, Menahem ha-Meiri and the Second Controversy over
Philosophy (Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, 1995).
10 David b. Samuel Kokhavi, Sefer ha-Batim, vol. 2; Sefer ha-Mitsvah, Azharot
30–38, ed. Moshe Herschler (Jerusalem: Makhon Shalem—Tsefunot Kadmonim,

1983), 310–319.
Between Astrology and Astral Magic

Meiri contrasts astral magic with astrology itself, discussing in detail
the many talmudic and midrashic sources that recognize astrology and
the recourse to astrological predictions as useful. These sources are
not consistent with Maimonides’ halakhic definition: “Who is a me#onen
[‘soothsayer’]? He who assigns dates in the manner of the astrolo-
gers: ‘Such-and-such a day is good, such-and-such a day is bad.’”11
According to this definition, astrological forecasting itself is forbidden,
even without any magical activity. Meiri, evidently troubled by this
contradiction between the talmudic sources and Maimonides’ ruling,
introduced a dichotomy between the elements of astrology, which
are, as he writes, “a natural thing among people,”12 and astrological
predictions employing magical means: the former are permitted, while
the latter are absolutely forbidden.
What is the meaning of the permit to use astrological predictions
considering it “a natural thing”? In Meiri’s view, it is permitted to
utilize such predictions, such as foretelling the aggressive personality
of someone born under the sign of Mars, or determining the most
auspicious time for bloodletting.13 This view is supported in basic
11 Maimonides, Code, Laws of Idolatry 11:8. Meiri refers to Maimonides as “the

greatest of authors.” Maimonides ruled in the definition of soothsaying in accordance
with the view of R. Akiva in Sifri Deuteronomy 171, and in TB Sanhedrin 65b, that
soothsayers are “the assigners of dates.”
12 Menahem Meiri, Beit ha-Behirah, Tractate Sanhedrin, ed. Abraham Sofer (Jeru-
salem: Hermon, 1965), on Sanhedrin 68a, 251. Meiri’s teacher, Reuben b. Hayyim,
also recognized the validity of the elements of astrology; see Sefer ha-Tamid, 21, 24.
However, he never mentions astral magic in the extant sources.
13 TB Shabbat 156a, 129b. This question was of considerable concern to Pro-
vençal scholars. See Binyamin Zeev Benedikt, “Food Depends on the Constellation”
[Hebrew], in his The Torah Center in Provence, 243–267. On Meiri, see 252–253. Vari-
ous scholars have discussed Meiri’s views on idolatry and his approach in the issue
of attitudes to non-Jews. See Jacob Katz, “Religious Tolerance in the Halakhic and
Philosophical System of Rabbi Menahem ha-Meiri” [Hebrew], Zion 18 (1953): 15–30;
Israel Ta-Shma, “Judeo-Christian Commerce on Sundays in Medieval Germany and
Provence” [Hebrew], Tarbiz 47 (1978): 197–210; Ephraim E. Urbach, “Rabbi Mena-
hem ha-Meiri’s Theory of Tolerance: Its Origin and Limits” [Hebrew], in Studies in
the History of Jewish Society in the Middle Ages and in the Modern Period Presented to Professor
Jacob Katz, ed. E. Etkes and Y. Salmon (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1980), 34–44. For
further reactions see Israel Ta-Shma, “Additional Remarks Concerning Moslems as
Intermediaries in Judeo-Christian Commerce” [Hebrew], Tarbiz 49 (1980): 218–219;
Yaakov Katz, “Religious Tolerance in the Halakhic System of R. Menahem ha-Meiri: A
Reply” [Hebrew], Zion 46 (1981): 243–246; Gerald Blidstein, “Maimonides and Me"iri
on the Legitimacy of Non-Judaic Religion,” in Scholars and Scholarship: The Interaction
130 chapter five
scientific terms: the stars exert decisive influence on processes in the

material world. Ptolemy clearly formulated the qualitative influence
of the stars on the natural elements, and therefore:
Anything that is an innate quality, such as the fact that a certain sign
[of the Zodiac] governs such-and-such a day in such-and-such a place,
or that the New Moon enriches the earth with water and dampens it so
that it causes damage in wood that is cut at that time—there is noth-
ing wrong with that and it is like a natural thing. The same applies to
refraining from bloodletting under the government of Mars, when blood
is boiling and aroused and letting it out may cause damage—that is
entirely nature. This is as if one says, let us do such a thing at midday,
when the sun is at its hottest.14
Having ruled thus, Meiri went on to permit any astrological prediction
not involving any magical practice, in contrast to Maimonides’ ruling.
In fact, he even assigned an ethical and behavioral value to a knowledge
of the elements of astrology: “A person should constantly impose upon
his nature and alter his function for the good.”15 This explains why he
expanded Maimonides’ definition of soothsayer (me#onen), adding the
words, “and whoever does such-and-such a thing at such-and-such a
time will succeed in his efforts or conversely.”16 It is the performance of a
magical practice that turns the use of astrology into something forbidden; merely
drawing up a horoscope or employing astrological considerations to
foresee the future are permitted.
Meiri continues as follows: “They have said that whoever does not
consult them [the Chaldeans] but learns by himself that such is the
case, or the Chaldeans told him on their own, and he is concerned
by what they say—there is no guilt here.”17 Note the use of the term
“Chaldeans” here: In talmudic literature, it generally means astrologers,
with no hint of astral-magical practices.18 For Meiri, however, the
between Judaism and Other Cultures, ed. Leo Landman (New York: Yeshiva University
Press, 1990), 27–35. These scholars, however, did not consider the role of astrology
and astral magic in the context of the prohibition of idolatry. For a brief survey of
the issue see Abraham Geiger, “A Study of R. Levi b. Abraham b. Hayyim and Some
of his Contemporaries” [Hebrew], He-Halutz 2 (1853): 15–16.
14 Meiri, Beit ha-Behirah, Sanhedrin, 253.
15 Ibid., 252.
16 Ibid., 251.
17 Ibid., 252.
18 See, for instance, Arukh Completum, ed. Hanokh Judah Kohut, vol. 4, 232, s.v.
“Kalda"i”; Franz Cumont, Astrology and Religion among the Greeks and Romans (New York:
Dover, 1960). See also Ephraim E. Urbach, The Sages. Their Concepts and Beliefs, trans.
Israel Abrahams (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1979), 276–277.
“Chaldeans” accomplished their predictions by magical means, and it

is therefore forbidden to consult them. His definition is quite clear:
In sum: The science of the Chaldeans is not the science of the stars
alone, but it also involves the practice of sorcery.19
In any case, the Chaldeans, although the greatest of the rabbis have
explained the term as meaning a necromancer, are concerned mainly
with the laws of the stars [astrology].20
In other words, “the greatest rabbis” explained “Chaldean” practices
as sorcery, with no appeal to the laws of the heavens, whereas Meiri
believed that the “Chaldeans” engaged in astral magic. He therefore
forbade any exploitation of heavenly configurations by magical means,
that is, he forbade performing some action or preparation based on
a given configuration:
But whatever changes in them constantly according to the mutual con-
junction of the stars, as one might say to take a certain thing when the
moon is in a certain sign of the Zodiac, that is sorcery and soothsaying;
and any determination of the time to perform some action or desist from
some action on such a basis is forbidden, for that is what [the stars’]
worshipers attribute to their action.21
This halakhic distinction between astrology and astral magic is
unequivocal. The prohibition applies not only to the practice itself
but also to dissemination of its results: “It is forbidden to practice
soothsaying, even if a person does not perform the action in question
but only pronounces those falsehoods that fools believe are words of
truth and wisdom.”22 Meiri therefore banned astral magic entirely,
with the exception specified in the passage cited above:23 It is per-
mitted to employ knowledge acquired by astral-magical practice,
provided that knowledge is commonly known, or that the magician
offered that knowledge of his own accord. This exception, however,
deserves further study.
19 Meiri, Beit ha-Behirah, Sanhedrin, 252.

20 Meiri, Beit ha-Behirah, Tractate Pesahim, ed. Yosef ha-Kohen Klein (Jerusalem:
Makhon ha-Talmud ha-Yisraeli ha-Shalem, 1964), on Pesahim 113b, 239.
21 Meiri, Beit ha-Behirah, Sanhedrin, 253–254. For brief glosses on Meiri’s inter-
pretation of the magical material in the Talmud and on the term “mazzikin” (demons,
evil spirits), see Moshe Halbertal, “Menahem ha-Me"iri: Talmudist and Philosopher”
[Hebrew], Tarbiz 63 (1994), 80–81; Gerald J. Blidstein, “R. Menahem Ha-Me"iri: Aspects
of an Intellectual Profile,” Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 5 (1995): 65.
22 Ibid., 254; see also 243, on Sanhedrin 65b.
23 See above, n. 18.
132 chapter five
We now proceed to a controversial issue, namely, the fashioning of

an image for medical purposes. Meiri proposed classifying the forms
of astral magic into four methods (depending on the division into
four “classes” [kittot]): (1) Uttering a spell that would help to make
an astrological prediction come true, or worshiping the stars through
effigies to achieve prophetic inspiration. (2) Capturing the spirituality
of the stars by burning incense at a special time, in order to predict
the future (“those who make the forces ‘flow down’”). (3) Fashioning
a metal image of a sign of the Zodiac for medical purposes. (4) Tim-
ing agricultural activities (such as harvesting grain or collecting seeds)
by establishing the stars’ position and influence. In Meiri’s opinion,
each of these four techniques is absolutely forbidden. Implicit in his
writings is an unequivocal ruling on a question that engaged all the
major polemicists of the time: a prohibition on fashioning an image
for medical purposes. As he wrote in explaining the third type of
astral magic:
In any event, the fashioning of images at certain times, when the desired
star is revolving in a suitable house of the signs of the Zodiac, for cer-
tain illnesses—that is definitely forbidden even according to what they
have written.24 And that is the third group of those mentioned in their
writings, and they call them the image-makers.25
Meiri is expressing himself here quite outspokenly, on an issue directly
connected to the early fourteenth century controversy. He deals with
the forms of astral magic, particularly the prohibited manufacture
of images for healing purposes, as part of his discussion of the bibli-
cal injunction against soothsaying (me#onen). According to Meiri, the
making of an image for medical purposes is forbidden not only as
a form of sorcery but also as a form of soothsaying. In other words,
he seems to impose a dual prohibition on astral magic, based on two
“negative precepts” in the Torah, implying that the offender would
incur a double penalty.
While Meiri alludes only to astral magic, his contemporary David
Kokhavi is quite explicit. Following Maimonides, he asserts in general,
“We have been admonished not to perform any action according to
stellar choices.” The term “stellar choices” (behirot kokhaviyot) probably
derives from Maimonidean terminology.26 Kokhavi held that it was
24 That is, according to the many astrological references in the Talmud.

25 Meiri, Sanhedrin, 253.
26 Sefer ha-Batim, 2: 314. “Stellar choices” is the term that Maimonides uses in The
forbidden to make an astral image for medical purposes:

For by assigning times according to stellar choices one will ultimately
attribute divinity to a star or a sphere, and that would be absolute
idolatry. And those who make images at certain times and say that those
images help some illnesses—it seems to me that they are considered
among those who assign times and it is forbidden to make them and
to be cured by them.27
Kokhavi reiterates that any practice associated with times determined
on the basis of stellar configurations should be forbidden, lest it lead
to idolatry. Perhaps he used the phrase “it seems to me” ( yera"eh li)
not because he was in any doubt as to the prohibition, but because
he forbade the capture of spirituality as being both sorcery28 and
soothsaying. This was his own innovation, not to be found in any of
the sources at his disposal. In sum, both Meiri and Kokhavi believed
that a person who fashioned images for medical purposes was trans-
gressing the injunction against soothsayers, and probably also the
general prohibition of sorcery.
The Means Becomes the End

Solomon b. Judah of Lunel added his voice to the basic position of
Meiri and Kokhavi, who firmly reject the idea of making images for
medical purposes, but adducing different reasons. Solomon, who wrote
a commentary on Judah Halevi’s The Kuzari entitled Heshek Shelomo
(1424 or earlier), was a disciple of Frat Maimon (Solomon b. Men-
achem), who was probably active in the second half of the fourteenth
century. While Solomon b. Judah also prohibited the manufacture
of images for medical purposes, he differed from both Meiri and
Kokhavi on a significant point. They had followed in the footsteps of
Maimonides, who had denied the reality of bringing down spirituality
Book of the Commandments in Negative Commandment 32. Ibn Tibbon translated the
phrase as “actions by choice from the laws of stars.” See also The Commandments: Sefer
ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides, trans. Charles B. Chavel (London and New York: Soncino
Press, 1967), 2:31-32, negative commandment 32.
27 Sefer ha-Batim, 2:115. See also ibid., 1: Sefer ha-Emunah, 160.
28 As in Sefer ha-Batim, 2:116, on the basis of Guide of the Perplexed 3:37. The quota-
tion from Maimonides, in a passage directly concerned with the capture of spirituality
as part of the definition of sorcery, indicates that Kokhavi forbade the manufacture
of images for medical purposes and considered it as a form of sorcery. There are
several sources in which Maimonides forbids bringing down spirituality onto images
as sorcery, as in The Book of the Commandments, Negative Commandment 10.
134 chapter five
to an image or an effigy. Solomon b. Judah, however, had no doubt

that such phenomena were real, but deplored such magical practices
and considered them absolutely forbidden. This is the import of his
commentary on the passage in The Kuzari (3:11) in which Judah Halevi
describes the qualities of the perfect man:
[The pious, or perfect, man] will refrain from performing those prac-
tices that rely on idolatry, such as bringing down forces at certain well-
defined hours, like those who today make an image to combat a disease
of the kidneys and an image of a scorpion against scorpion bite; for
such practices are likely to lead a person astray from the straight path,
and this was the intention of Scripture when it spoke of “the lame and
the blind, who are hateful to David” (2 Samuel 5:8), for it seems that
these were images made at certain times with which people afflicted
with these defects would be cured, and they were therefore at the gate
of the city. And since they were visible to all and since the people of
Israel could readily be misled by them to say that they were divinities,
it was therefore said that they were “hateful to David,” and therefore he
gave orders to destroy them. And the pious man should heed all such
abhorrent practices and beware them.29
Solomon b. Judah’s argument to some extent harks back to Mai-
monides’ position in Guide of the Perplexed (1:36), that the multitude
mistakes the end for the means. At first, the stars and the effigies
made in their image were seen as agents mediating between human
beings and God, but the masses came to regard the stars and their
images themselves as deities. Witness those images made to capture
spirituality, which were “hateful to David” because they were dis-
played at the city gate. Such public exposure of the images inspired
the common people to attribute to them divine powers. The perfect
man, therefore, will distance himself from such practices for fear that
their routine use might deify the images. While Solomon b. Judah
29 Solomon b. Judah, Heshek Shelomo, Ms. Oxford-Bodl. 2383 (Opp. Add. 4º

114), 62a. Note that David Kimhi also explained “the lame and the blind” as “brass
images” placed at the city gate (2 Samuel 5:8), but said nothing of the astral-magical
aspect. See the commentary of Netanel Kaspi, a member of Solomon b. Judah’s
circle, written in the same year: “Satan, that is, the evil inclination, incites [the
pious man] with some opinions of the believers in spirituality, and it may occur to
the pious man that they are beneficial or harmful by their own [powers] and are
subject to no other governance or leader who orders and leads them; but that is not
so. Rather, their causing harm or benefit is by virtue of their quality, like wind and
fire whose nature it is to harm or to benefit by virtue of their quality, as they were
arranged by the Almighty, who is all and knows every part as He knows the whole”
(Ms. Paris 677, f. 80a).
adopted one part of Abba Mari’s position rejecting the capture of

spirituality for medical ends (“disease of the kidneys… scorpion bite”),
he had no doubt of the reality of the magical act itself. Moreover,
nowhere does Solomon b. Judah refer to the halakhic aspect of the
problem, merely supplying a theoretical argument against the use of
images to heal the sick.
In sum, these thinkers rejected astral-magical practices for both
halakhic and philosophical reasons. Meiri and Kokhavi debated the
manufacture of images for medical purposes in a halakhic context,
apparently forbidding such practices as being either sorcery or sooth-
saying, or both. Solomon b. Judah revealed the theoretical danger that
he attributed to these practices. The type of rationalist so passionately
censured by Abba Mari Astruc of Lunel does not fit the mold of
Meiri or Kokhavi. Abba Mari himself was a thinker who systematically
employed philosophical concepts, as may be seen in the first eighteen
chapters of his Sefer Minhat Qena"ot, which include his own anthology of
his polemical letters concerning the sciences. This is also the conclusion
from his Sefer ha-Yareah, which he added to one of his letters.30 Abba
Mari aimed his attack at the rationalists who engaged in radical alle-
goristic interpretation of the Bible and the Aggadah, but at the same
time were proficient in astral magic and used it. His position and its
influence will be considered in the next section.
The Relationship between Magic and Philosophy: The Traditionalists
A Threefold Prohibition
Abba Mari’s position differed from that of Meiri only in its program-
matic aspect and in the severity of his prohibition on the use of images
for medical purposes.31 Taking an extreme traditionalist approach,
30 Abba Mari, Minhat Qena"ot, ed. Moses Bisliches(Pressburg: Anton Edlen von
Schmid, 1838) Iggeret 58; Sefer Minhat Qena"ot, ed. Dimitrovsky, ch. 77.
31 The philosophical, historical, and social significance of Astruc’s position in the
controversy was exhaustively discussed in Shatzmiller’s studies cited above. On the

figure of Abba Mari Astruc as an intellectual and a halakhic authority see further
Henri Gross, “Notice sur Abba Mari de Lunel,” REJ 4 (1882): 192-207; Twersky,
“Aspects of the Social and Cultural History of Provençal Jewry,” 203; Joseph Shatz-
miller, “Minor Epistle of Apology of Rabbi Kalonymus ben Kalonymus” [Hebrew],
Sefunot 10 (1966): 16–17; Menachem Kellner, Dogma in Medieval Jewish Thought: From
Maimonides to Abravanel (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986), 69-74.
136 chapter five
Abba Mari was not content to brand the practice of astral magic as
a transgression of two precepts. While relying on the same sources
in the Talmud and in Maimonides’ writings as Meiri and Kokhavi,
he categorized astral magic as a violation of three negative precepts:
me#onen (soothsayer), menahesh (diviner) and mekhashef (sorcerer). Where
the others had hesitated, he had no doubts, as he wrote in a letter
to Rashba:
Indeed, it seems that anyone who makes one of the images in a special
season, when the sun or one of the planets is in certain degrees, must
still be considered a soothsayer and a diviner... And I think it very likely
that such a person is also a sorcerer, for the terms “soothsayer” and
“diviner” refer only to people who plan their labor or their conduct
on a certain day or in a certain season, and they believe that they will
succeed in their business on those days. But in the case before us, that
of a person who makes a special image of metal on a certain day, when
the star is in such-and-such a degree, and believes that it thus causes
good or bad, that surely seems to be an act of sorcery.32
In contrast to Rashba’s doubts as to whether to permit or prohibit
making images for medical purposes, Abba Mari laid down the law
categorically:
Since that is so, how can one permit making an image for medicine,
for the maker violates [the three precepts] of soothsayer, diviner, and
sorcerer; and even if the image has been made and exists, it is forbid-
den to use it to heal, and it is not considered among things that may be
used for medical purposes, because [doing so] is like attributing power
to the star and thanking it by making that image.33
32 Minhat Qena"ot, ch. 23, 320, line 125; 321, line 139; see also 322, lines 161–164.
Incidentally, R. David Messer Leon refers to this book as Minhat Qetatot (literally
meaning “offering of controversy” rather than the original “offering of zeal”), as
he writes: “…For a young boy remembers perfectly what he learned in his infancy,
and for that reason Rashba decreed in the districts of Provence that they should
not study philosophy in their youth and childhood, as you may see from the book
Minhat Qetatot, against which the Epistle of Apology was written” (Ein ha-Kore, Ms.
Oxford-Bodl. 1263 [Reggio 41], 3a). On Jedaiah ha-Penini’s Epistle of Apology (Ketav
ha-Hitnazlut) see below, text at nn. 59–61.
33 Minhat Qena"ot, 323, l. 176-324, l. 180. Astruc classifies medicines in the Talmud
under three headings: (1) Healing by medications whose mode of operation is known
and amenable to study. (2) Healing by a charm or a magic spell. (3) Healing by segullot,
that is, medications whose modes of operation and causes are unknown. In other
words, Astruc was willing to recognize the reality of non-astral magic (amulets, and so
forth), but firmly prohibited making images for medical purposes. He attributed such
healing to the philosophers, as we shall see below, thus making a factual contribution
Abba Mari thus explicitly equated making an image at a time deter-

mined by astrological calculations with idolatry. He differed from
Meiri and Kokhavi on an issue that seems to be pragmatic rather
than substantial and ideological: he attributed the practice of astral
magic to the radical rationalists. Referring to those rationalists, who
are in quest of “children of aliens” [alien customs; see Isaiah 2:6],
he writes:
Their cornerstone is set in the books of Averroes,
And the mainstay of their foundation in the sayings of Aristotle.
They are almost snared in their net, entrapped, their feet put in the
stocks,
The summit of their thought is that heavenly bodies are subject
neither to generation nor to corruption.
Some of them put their faith in the laws of the stars,
Some of them make images at set times, when the sun is in certain
degrees in the ascent of the scorpions.34
He seems to be proposing a basic theoretical link between astral magic
and philosophy: the doctrine that the sphere is eternal implies a belief
in its powers and in their exploitation. This link is not conclusive,
especially in view of the fact that, historically speaking, Averroes
to the distinction between “primitive magic” and “intellectual magic”—a distinction

that emerged clearly in the Renaissance, but had already been in existence since the
fourteenth century. Quite possibly, Rashba himself was acquainted with Hermetic
traditions whereby every climate had its distinctive mode of worship; the climate of
the Land of Israel, however, required no such worship. A responsum attributed to
Rashba, therefore, includes a halakhic ruling permitting a non-Jew to worship a star
if he recognizes it as an instrument: “For the Holy One, blessed be He, divided the
lands among the signs of the Zodiac, which he gave government over the earth, so
that such-and-such a star governs such-and-such a place... And whoever worships
the star which governs that place is not an idolater, provided he knows and realizes
that the said star possesses no power and no government other than through the
Lord, whose name governs that land” (Aryeh L. Feldman, “Rashba’s Responsum to
a Non-Jewish Scholar Concerning Monotheistic Faith” [Hebrew], Sinai 100 [1987],
638. This responsum was published previously in J. R. Perles, R. Salomo b. Abraham
b. Adereth, seine Leben und seine Schriften [Breslau: Schletter, 1863], 53). Astruc was thus
tackling an extremely sensitive issue, and Rashba’s uncertainty in the face of Astruc’s
categorical ruling is readily understood. Finally, it should be noted that a position
similar to that of Abba Mari Astruc, recognizing the “popular” magic of charms and
magic spells while at the same time expressing disapproval of rationalist philosophy,
appears in a work written probably around the same time (I have been unable to
determine its provenance): Sefer Malkiel, by R. Malkiel Hezekiah b. Abraham. See
Sefer Malkiel, published in Zehav Parvayim (Pietrkow, 1840), 58b-62a.
34 Minhat Qena"ot, ch. 19, 272, lines 37-41.
138 chapter five
himself was opposed to astrology and astral magic.35 In his emphasis

on this link, however, Abba Mari essentially shaped the style of the
opponents of the radical philosophers and their excessive allegories
in fourteenth- century Provence.
Between Theory and Practice

Another thinker who linked rationalism and astral magic in the second
half of the fourteenth century in Provence was Jacob b. Solomon ha-
Zarfati. He too was sharply critical of the radical rationalists, while
praising the kabbalists; at the same time, he rejected healing by
means of images. Jacob B. Solomon wrote a treatise entitled Kehillat
Yaakov, which has survived in an anthology of his works in Ms. Paris
733 (copied in 1395). The basic object of this treatise is to establish
the principle that “action, practice” (ma#aseh) is superior to “specula-
tion” (iyyun).36 234 To that end, he quotes numerous passages from
philosophical writings that praise action, aiming to emphasize the
importance of religious practice compared with rational speculation.
Jacob b. Solomon assigns the term “practice” very broad meaning,
and astral magic too assumes an important position in this context.
The “philosophers” use astral magic for medical purposes, indicating
the great importance they attribute to “practice.” As noted, one of
the most interesting motifs in Jacob Zarfati’s account is the link he
creates, like Abba Mari, between philosophizing and astral magic.
He himself was a physician, and it is clear that he did not deny the
reality of astral-magical practices in the medical realm. Ultimately,
however, he rejects making images for medical purposes as an explicit
violation of Halakhah.
At the start of his account, he places the astrological pursuit con-
cerned with predicting the future in the realm of interest of the “philoso-
35 The reference to Averroes should probably be associated with the group formed
around that time in Provence, which called itself “Kehal Me#ayyenim” and devoted itself
to studying the works of the great Aristotelian commentator. See Lawrence V. Berman,
“Greek into Hebrew: Samuel ben Judah of Marseilles,” in Alexander Altmann, ed.,
Jewish Medieval and Renaissance Studies (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,
1967), 238-320; idem, “A Manuscript Entitled ‘Shoshan Limudim’ and the Group of
“Me#ayyenim” in Provence” [Hebrew], Kiryat Sefer 53 (1978): 368–372.
36 See Georges Vajda, “On the Conflict between Philosophy and Religion”
[Hebrew], Tarbiz 24 (1955): 309–310; Joseph Shatzmiller, “Étudiants juifs à la faculté

de médecine de Montpellier—dernier quart du XIV siècle,” in Barry Walfish (ed.),
The Frank Talmage Memorial Volume (Haifa: Haifa University Press, 1993), 2:252.
phers”: “When I refer to philosophers, I include with them astronomers

and astrologers as well. And it is well known that the ultimate aim of
the sciences of astronomy and astrology and its outcome is to predict
the future.”37 Astral magic branches off the “philosophical” treatment
of astrology, as a typically practical discipline. Jacob b. Solomon cites
two techniques of astral magic. For the first, he cites proof from the
Sefer ha-Peri (Centiloquium) attributed to Ptolemy:
Similarly, they engage in making images of the signs of the Zodiac, that
have to be made as needed at certain times, engraved on certain materi-
als, like those who make an image of a lion on a gold salver [to heal]
diseases of the kidneys, or an image of a scorpion to heal the sting of a
scorpion, and similar ones on frankincense, as Ptolemy said in his book
Centiloquium: The forms that are in the earthly world obey the forms in
the world of spheres, and therefore the makers of talismans and images
engrave them in such a way that the [power of the] stars will give them
the ability to perform a desired action.38
And they also have images of certain letters for each one of the seven
planets, which are effective for certain matters. But before they can be
effective they have to be written on certain parchments or on silk gar-
ments of a certain color, and then they must be smoked and immersed
in incense in ways that are known to their makers.39
Jacob b. Solomon, not content merely with a theoretical account of
the manufacture of healing images, cites evidence of the efficacy of
such images, from Abu Ja#far’s commentary on Centiloquium.40 The
evidence concerns healing a scorpion bite by means of a stamp bear-
ing the likeness of a scorpion; the stamp is placed on the bite when
37 Kehillat Yaakov, Ms. Paris 733, 49b. See also the excerpts published by Vajda at
the end of his article “On the Conflict,” Appendix 1: 15b.

38 Kehillat Yaakov, Ms. Paris 733, 49b. The quotation is from a passage attributed
to Ptolemy in the work Centiloquium, ch. 9, Ms. Paris 1055, 54a. On the translation
of this work see below, n. 77. For a French translation of the quotation see Le Centi-
loque de Ptolomée ou la seconde partie de l’Uranie (Paris, 1993), 19, and Jacques Halbronn’s
introduction, xl–xli, xxxiii.
39 Kehillat Yaakov, 50a. The basis for the technique of magical letters is explained
by Levi b. Abraham in his discussion of astral magic: “Every planet has special
letters, and therefore one born [under that sign of the Zodiac] is disposed to be
proficient in reading some letters more than other letters, as appointed to him, and
that is the reason for different languages spoken by different nations” (Livyat Hen, Ms.
Paris 1066/1, 7b). That is to say, there are certain types of letters corresponding to
each planet, and amulets based on astrology were fashioned on the basis of this cor-
respondence. The technique is mentioned in the work Picatrix, Book 3, ch, 4, among
others. See Hansen, “Science and Magic,” 487-488.
40 Kehillat Yaakov, 49b–50a.
140 chapter five
the moon is in the “house” of Scorpio. Jacob emphatically quotes

Abu Ja#far’s assertion that the process has helped everyone stung
under those conditions.41 However, despite this clear-cut evidence in
Abu Ja#far’s name, Jacob b. Solomon firmly rejects the use of astral
magic for halakhic reasons. After his account of the various magical
techniques, he writes: “This is all as known to those proficient in that
science and to one who believes in it, for it is forbidden to us, by
reason of our divine Torah, to believe in such things, all the more
so to do them.”42
Notably, unlike Abba Mari, Jacob b. Solomon does not bother to
define the precise halakhic grounds for the prohibition of astral magic.
Clearly, the traditionalist opponents of astral magic considered it a well-
known prohibition, which was self-evident in light of the halakhic
interpretation of the general prohibition of idolatry. Jacob b. Solomon
was thus continuing the polemical model established by Abba Mari.
Both of these thinkers were clearly proficient in the sources and in
philosophical style, both rejected the radical rationalism represented
by free allegorization, and both considered the use of astral magic a
characteristic of radical rationalists.
In the next section, after examining the intermediate position repre-
sented by Gersonides and Jedaiah ha-Penini, I consider the doctrines
that were the target of Abba Mari’s harsh criticism.
Effigies, Images and Divination: An Intermediate Position
Psychological Utility
Ranged against the post-Maimonidean thinkers who denied the reality
of astral magic was a long and distinguished series of thinkers who
believed it efficacious. Given the decisive influence of the teachings of
Abraham ibn Ezra on fourteenth-century thinkers,43 the task facing
the adversaries of astral magic emerges as rather formidable. One
common approach was to argue that astral magic grants a psycho-
41 See Schwartz, Astral Magic, 69, n. 28.

42 Kehillat Yaakov, 50a.
43 On this phenomenon see Alexander Altmann, “Moses Narboni’s Epistle on
Shi"ur Qoma,” Studies in Religious Philosophy and Mysticism (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell Uni-
versity Press, 1969), 196–197; Dov Schwartz, The Philosophy of a Fourteenth Century
Jewish Neoplatonic Circle [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Bialik Institute 1996); idem, Astral Magic,
chs. 5-6 and 9.
logical advantage, but has no power to exert real influence in the

material world. Accordingly, the effigy and the special preparation
thought necessary to capture spirituality simply aroused the magician’s
mental faculties, in particular his imagination, and he is thus able to
predict the future.44
This was Gersonides’ argument, particularly in regard to sources
that obliged him to address the problem of astral magic, that is, in his
biblical exegesis. Indeed, as an exegete, he could not ignore traditions
of magical interpretation established by Ibn Ezra in certain passages of
the Bible, such as those treating Laban’s household idols (the terafim),
the Tabernacle and the priestly vestments, the reasons for the sacri-
fices, the scapegoat, and the story of Balaam.45 While Gersonides used
magical terminology, he denied that the outcome of magical practices
was in any way real, confining their efficacy to the psychological realm.
This was true, he argued, both for forbidden uses of magic (divina-
tion) and for its seemingly permitted category (prophecy). In order to
explain this assumption, let us begin with Gersonides’ explanation of
the meaning of the terafim, as in the following two passages:
And Rachel stole her father’s terafim (Genesis 31:19), which is his magical
tool for he was a magician... Now the terafim are made in a human image,
as we shall see [in the matter of] Saul’s daughter Michal,46 namely, it is
an image made at certain times, through which the magician’s imagi-
native faculty is aroused and as it were hears a faint voice speaking to
him of future events, as his thought wanders in such things. This does
not mean that the image speaks, since that is impossible, for there can
be speech only through the means that the Lord, may He be exalted,
endowed with it in nature.47
44 A similar explanation appears in the writings of Shem Tov ibn Maior. See Dov
Schwartz, “Varieties of Magic in Jewish Thought in 14th-Century Spain” [Hebrew],

PAAJR 57 (1990–1991), Hebrew Section, 25.
45 Accordingly, our most important source here will be Gersonides’ commentary
on the Torah, on which see Robert Eisen, Gersonides on Providence, Covenant, and the
Chosen People: A Study in Medieval Jewish Philosophy and Biblical Commentary (Albany: SUNY
Press, 1995); Eli Freyman, “Le Commentaire de Gersonide sur le Pentateuque,” in
Gilbert Dahan, ed., Gersonide en son temps: science et philosophie medievales (Louvain: E.
Peeters, 1991), 117-132; Amos Funkenstein, “Gersonides’ Biblical Commentary: Sci-
ence, History and Providence,” in Gad Freudenthal, ed., Studies on Gersonides (Leiden:
Brill, 1992), 305–315.
46 For Gersonides’ treatment of this subject, see below.
47 Gersonides, Commentary on the Torah (Venice, 1547), 38d. The two most recent
editions of the commentary on Genesis, based on manuscripts, are: Gersonides’ Com-

mentaries on the Torah Based on the First Edition and MS. Lehmann [Hebrew], vol. 1, ed.
142 chapter five
The terafim were a human image, made at specific times known to

them, and they thought this image would arouse the imaginative faculty
so that it would become isolated from the other faculties of the soul to
receive supreme power, as was its custom, and hear the likeness of a
deep voice that, so they thought, would predict the future.48
Clearly, Gersonides did not believe that the rites bringing down spiri-
tuality onto effigies had real results; for that reason, he explained the
efficacy of such rites as a kind of divination. The diviner foretells the
future by receiving emanation from the “soul” of the stars. Since
Maimonides had already stated that the only reliable proof of the
truth of a prophecy lies in knowledge of the future, there had to be a
clear distinction between the prophet and the diviner. The task was
undertaken by the Muslim philosophers who discussed the Aristotelian
tract Parva Naturalia, some parts of which are concerned with dreams;
Averroes, in particular, tackled the subject in his commentaries on
that work. Gersonides devoted lengthy passages to the question of
how to distinguish between a diviner who predicts the future and a
prophet.49 Numerous distinctions were proposed; perhaps one of the
most important states that prophets also depend on their intellect to
determine the future, whereas diviners use only imagination. Since
divination is based entirely on the imaginative faculties, the diviner
needs tools to help the imaginative faculty prevail over the other
Yaakov Leib Levi (Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1992), 189; Rabbinic Pentateuch
with Commentary on the Torah by R. Levi b. Gershon (Gersonides, 1288–1344)[Hebrew], ed.
Baruch Braner and Eli Freyman (Maaleh Adummim: Ma#alyot, 1993), 388 (variants
in this edition are cited below in square brackets). In his “Explanation of Words,”
Gersonides adds that the “image” was made of metal (ed. Braner and Freyman,
377). Finally, it should be noted that Gersonides’ interpretation is cited in a slight
variant by Abravanel. See Abravanel’s Commentary on the Torah [Hebrew], vol. 1 (Jeru-
salem, 1979), 331.
48 Gersonides, on 1 Samuel 19:13.
49 In this connection see Charles Touati, La pensée philosophique et théologique de Gersonides
(Paris: Editions de Minuit, 1973), 458–459; Daniel J. Lasker, “Gersonides on Dreams,

Divination and Astrology,” Proceedings of the Eighth World Congress of Jewish Studies, Divi-
sion C (Jerusalem: World Union of Jewish Studies: 1982), 47–52; Hayyim Kreisel,
“The Verification of Prophecy in Medieval Jewish Philosophy” [Hebrew], Jerusalem
Studies in Jewish Thought 4 (1985): 13–17; idem, “Veridical Dreams and Prophecy in
the Philosophy of Gersonides” [Hebrew], Da#at 22 (1989): 73–84; Sara Klein-Braslavy,
“Prophecy, Clairvoyance, and Dreams and the Concept of Hitbodedut in Gersonides’
Thought” [Hebrew], Da#at 39 (1997): 23–68. Gersonides’ approach influenced Jewish
philosophy in the fourteenth century and later. See, for instance, Norman Frimer and
Dov Schwartz, The Life and Thought of Shem Tov ibn Shaprut [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Yad
Yitzhak Ben Zvi and the Hebrew University, 1992), 153–156.
mental faculties. The effigy helps the diviner focus his imaginative
faculty at regular times and propose a detailed forecast of the future.
The terafim thus help to reveal “a few correct things [in the future]...
but many false things will be imagined together with them.”50 In other
words, the use of terafim did not guarantee a more accurate, complete
prediction of the future than divination or dreaming.
Moreover, judging from this passage, Gersonides believed that
making an image or an effigy was useful as a means of psychological
concentration (the imaginative faculty would be “isolated from the
other mental faculties”), and the diviner used images and effigies in
order to isolate the imaginative faculty and focus on it. Gersonides
contrasted the use of effigies for divination, which he considered
religiously illegitimate and representative of negative values, with
a symmetric, positive application: the use of sacrifices as an aid to
prophecy. Sacrifices play the role of the effigy or the image in the
prophetic process. The prophet, therefore, uses a sacrifice in order to
isolate his intellect from his other mental faculties and concentrate on
it, thus achieving prophetic inspiration. Discussing Noah’s sacrifices
after the Flood, Gersonides writes:
We will see that the matter of sacrifice is a preparation for prophecy to
emerge, as I shall explain, and that is... that in the matter of prophecy it
is necessary to isolate the intellect from the other mental faculties, and
therefore that may be achieved only when the other faculties cease their
activities, and to that end the prophet who wishes to prophesy must
awaken his intellectual faculty and put his other faculties to sleep... So
you find in the matter of sacrifices that they awaken the intellect and
put the sensory faculties to sleep, and that is because, when the animal
is slaughtered and cut in pieces and burnt by fire, the sensible soul is
suppressed, as cannot be ignored...51
Even in this description of the positive mode of foretelling the
future—prophecy—Gersonides employs magical terminology. Later,
he refers to the process whereby the prophet receives prophecy from
the Active Intellect by means of a typical magic-astral term, “reception
50 Gersonides on 1 Samuel 15:23.

51 Gersonides (Ms.), 21a; ed. Levi, 93; ed. Braner–Freiman, 173. See Milhamot
ha-Shem, 2, ch. 5 (Riva di Trento, 1560), 19b–d. In his Torah commentary, Gersonides
explains (196d) that Balaam himself was commanded to build seven altars to enable
him to prophesy: “‘I have set up the seven altars’ [Numbers 23:4]—He imagined
that the Lord had commanded him to do so beforehand, so as to be inspired by
prophecy.”
144 chapter five
of a supreme power” (koah elyon): “It was clear to our Sages... that the
Temple is the place that is best prepared to receive supreme power;
they reached this conclusion because the altars that the ancients had
built to the Lord, may He be exalted, were in that place, that is,
on Mount Moriah.”52 So the supreme power is the emanation that
causes prophecy. Clearly, then, Gersonides seems to have shifted the
magical principle once more to the psychological level: When the
supreme power is brought down, the prophet’s intellect is fertilized by
emanation from the Active Intellect. This principle is reiterated in his
interpretation of the priestly vestments. The high priest’s breastplate, he
writes, is used to “decide future events of which he may be asked.”53
That is why the Urim and Thummim were placed in the breastplate:
“And the Urim and Thummim were the reason that prophecy came to
him, by way of his contemplation of the essence of the First Cause,
and accordingly his intellect is isolated from among the other mental
faculties, and that is the reason for the arrival of prophecy concern-
ing the matter with which his thought was occupied.”54 Clearly, the
Urim and Thummim were intended to isolate the prophet’s power of
intellect and, through this psychological concentration, the priest
could predict the future.
Let us return now to the manufacture of images or effigies as a
means to capture spirituality. Gersonides’ consideration of the prac-
tice as an aid to the diviner’s art also shaped his halakhic ruling on
that question—he forbade the manufacture of images as a violation
of the prohibition of divination. Here is his comment on “one who
practices divination” [kosem kesamim] (Deuteronomy 18:10):
This is a person who performs certain actions so that his thought should
be isolated and he should foretell the future by divination; and this
includes many varieties, some more execrable than others, but all are
forbidden as negative precepts. The Torah forbade such practices because
52 Ibid., 21b; ed. Levi, 94; ed. Braner–Freiman, 174.

53 Ibid., 106c.
54 Ibid., 106d. According to Gersonides, the Urim and Thummim alluded to the
origins of reality (the former to matter or primeval natural heat, the latter to the
primeval form), so that concentration upon them brought about contemplation of
“the essence of the First Cause.” See also Moshe Idel, “Hitbodedut as Concentration
in Jewish Philosophy” [Hebrew], in Moshe Idel, Zeev Harvey, and Eliezer Schweid,
eds., Shlomo Pines Jubilee Volume: On the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, vol. 1 (Jerusa-
lem: Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought, 1988), 50–51; Funkenstein, “Gersonides’
Biblical Commentary,” 314.
they lead to negative things, for this variety of announcement involves

falsehood, and there are varieties that come very close to being idolatry,
and that is when they make images and offer them a little incense and
imagine that the image will then talk to them.55
In any event, Gersonides denied the reality and efficacy of astral-magi-
cal practices, as had Maimonides before him. Indeed, while Gersonides
recognized astrology in principle and in the theological context, and
was quite proficient in its techniques56 (unlike Maimonides or Isaac
Pollegar, his Spanish contemporary, both of whom were opposed to
astrology), he did not go so far as to attribute any reality to astral
magic or magical practices in general. Of the Egyptian magicians [in
the book of Genesis] Gersonides writes:
I believe that the wise men were people who were proficient in Egyptian
science, and the essence of that science was to invent the science of sor-
cery, with which they performed acts that cannot be achieved by natural
means. They do so either by sleight of hand, which makes one think that
they are doing what they are not doing; or by inventing natural devices
that create strange things that look as if they were produced by sorcery;
or by performing those strange acts by the method of sorcery, if it prove
possible to produce them by sorcery as if they were true acts. And we
do not know to this day the essence of that sorcery and its nature, and
for that reason we have not seen fit to speak of it.57
Gersonides lists in this passage three possible explanations for acts
of sorcery:
1. Sleight of hand.
2. “Natural devices” that produce “strange things.” This probably
refers to natural phenomena that have been observed and are
sometimes attributed to the action of the heavenly bodies. Accord-
ing to this explanation, sorcery derives from the sorcerer’s use of
frequent testimony (“experience”) as to natural phenomena that
55 Gersonides on the Torah, 255c.

56 See, for instance, Joseph Shatzmiller, “Gersonides and the Jewish Community
of Orange in His Day” [Hebrew], in B. Oded et al., eds. Studies in the History of the
Jewish People and the Land of Israel, vol. 2 (Haifa: Haifa University, 1972), 122–123;
Gad Freudenthal, “Epistémologie, astronomie et astrologie chez Gersonide,” REJ
145 (1986): 357-365; idem, “Levi ben Gershon as a Scientist: Physics, Astronomy
and Eschatology,” Proceedings of the Tenth World Congress of Jewish Studies, Division
C (Jerusalem 1990, 65-72; Bernard R. Goldstein, “Levi ben Gerson’s Astrology in
Historical Perspective,” Gersonide en son temps: science et philosophie medievales (Louvain:
E. Peeters, 1991), 287-300.
57 Gersonides on the Torah, 58c.
146 chapter five
take place, as then believed, as a result of astral influence. Since

the observer is not acquainted with these phenomena, the magician
presents them as if he himself had caused them. Such phenomena
were associated in the fourteenth century with another area, that
of experience: the science of regular phenomena that cannot be
explained by the qualitative structure of a given object, such as
the efficacy of medicines or the attraction of iron by a magnet.58
It is not inconceivable that Gersonides in the above passage was
proposing an explanation of sorcery, according to which the sor-
cerer simply makes use of experientially discovered phenomena
but presents them as produced by sorcery.59
3. Literal recognition of magical acts (“by the method of sorcery”).
Yet, Gersonides considered this a merely hypothetical possibility,
“if it prove possible to produce them by sorcery,” and actually did
not recognize the reality of sorcery. Acts of sorcery, therefore, do
not go beyond the limits of natural regularity, whether visible or
invisible, as in the discoveries of experimental science.
Gersonides’ position may thus be summarized as follows: (1) Astral
magic is efficacious in the psychological domain only, that is, in isolating
the imaginative faculty from the other mental faculties in order to foretell the future.
This proposition is in conflict with the view of Meiri and Kokhavi,
who see no benefit in making images, not even as psychological aids.
(2) As far as the halakhic prohibition is concerned, the manufacture
of images belongs to the category of augury or divination (kosem), in
contrast to Meiri and Kokhavi, who associate it with soothsaying
(me#onen). Similarly, Gersonides does not consider the maker of such
images as having violated two negative precepts, but only one.
The Popular Belief

Another position to be considered together with Gersonides’ is that
of Jedaiah ha-Penini Bedersi. On the one hand, this thinker clearly
58 See Schwartz, Astral Magic, ch. 1.

59 On the definition of experiment in relation to astrology (Arabic tajriba) see
Yitzhak Tzvi Langermann, “Maimonides’ Repudiation of Astrology,” Maimonidean
Studies 2 (1991): 136; idem, “Gersonides on the Magnet and the Heat of the Sun,”
in Gad Freudenthal, ed., Studies on Gersonides (Leiden: Brill, 1992), 269–275. See also
the discussion of the term in my Astral Magic, p. 52 n. 58.
admitted the efficacy of astrology as a psychological aid60 but, on

the other, he firmly denied any reality to magic-astral practice. We
already know that Abba Mari Astruc was successful in his efforts to
persuade Rashba to ban any study of philosophy below a certain age
and allegorical exegesis of the Bible. Jedaiah ha-Penini, then a young
scholar, sent a long letter, entitled Ketav Hitnazzelut (“Apologia”), in
which he defended Provençal scholars against the accusations of Rashba
and his court. In the course of a long list of the merits of speculative
science, he pointed out that philosophy upholds the omnipotence of
God. The meaning of the term “omnipotence” as a divine attribute is
that all powers are concentrated in God’s hands, contrary to popular
belief in magical powers. In the same breath, Jedaiah defined astral
magic as a popular belief, describing it as follows:
It is similar to many of the kinds of hidden powers that people speak
of, which cannot be numbered, even though today most of them have
been forgotten. This is like bringing down spirituality upon effigies made
of a certain matter at certain times so that they emit human speech in
the language of those who made them and they prophesy, recounting
hidden things, and they are called talismans. Ignorant nations used to
stray after them and abandon the real truth.61
Elsewhere, however, Jedaiah argued that the future can be known in
two ways: through astrological calculation, and through arousal of the
imaginative faculty. The imaginative faculty may be aroused by sleep,
for when people are asleep their physical faculties are passive and
imagination is capable of predicting the future during a dream. The
imagination may also be awakened by the would-be seer “handling
material things a little.” By “material things” he meant sorcerers’
practices, such as augury and divination.62 This implies that Jedaiah
60 As follows from his midrashic interpretations. See, for instance, Jedaiah ha-
Penini, Be"urim cal ma"amarei hazal be-midrash Tehillim, ed. Solomon Buber (Cracow,
1891), 19-20.
61 Ketav ha-Hitnazzelut, in Rashba, Responsa (Bologna, 1539), 81a. By “hidden
powers” Jedaiah apparently meant experientially known discoveries, which he defined

as popular beliefs. But it becomes clear from the sequel to this passage that Jedaiah
indeed accepted the truth of careful, tested, experimental discoveries; his argument
was that the prevalence of superstitions had blurred that truth: “...Although it includes
true things, taken from natural segullot that cannot be confirmed by logic, there is an
admixture of innumerable things that are madness and falsehood, which possess no
reality of any kind” (ibid.). On Ketav ha-Hitnazzelut see Ernest Renan, Les écrivains juifs
français du XIV siècle (Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1877), 31–36 [377–382].
62 Ketav ha-Hitnazzelut, 79b. Levi b. Abraham also believed in the efficacy of
148 chapter five
ha-Penini, too, believed that the devices employed by sorcerers had

some psychological ability to single out certain mental faculties from
others.
In sum: Gersonides and Jedaiah ha-Penini represent, as it were, an
intermediate position. On the one hand, it does not deny the efficacy
of the manufacture of images; on the other, it refuses to recognize
the reality of astral-magical practices, such as bringing down stellar
spirituality on images or effigies.
“Healing Images” as an “Ancient Wisdom”: The Believers’ Position
In contrast to the thinkers hitherto considered, some Provençal

scholars believed unreservedly in the reality of astral magic and did
not hesitate to grant it halakhic legitimacy. This section will examine
the views of Levi b. Abraham, an astronomer and astrologer whose
teachings were the focus of the controversy over philosophy in the
early fourteenth century.63 Levi’s main offense was the radical rational
allegorization in his commentaries on the Bible and the Midrash, but
he was also indirectly connected with the dispute over astral magic.
A perusal of his writings reveals that he was convinced of the reality
of practices aimed at the capture of spirituality and considered them
halakhically legitimate. Before describing the halakhic aspects, let us
consider the systematic foundation of astral magic as posited by Levi
b. Abraham.
“incense burning and the like” to arouse the magician’s imaginative faculty (Livyat
Hen, Ms. Munich 58, 15a). Gersonides and Jedaiah, however, argued that there is
nothing more to such acts, while Levi considered them as applicable to medicine
(see next section).
63 On Levi as an astronomer see Gad Freudenthal, “Sur la partie astronomique
du Liwyat Hen de Levi ben Abraham ben Hayyim,” REJ 148 (1989): 103-112, which
includes a detailed table of contents of the astronomical section of Livyat Hen. On
Levi’s part in the controversy over philosophy see Abraham S. Halkin, “The Ban on
the Study of Philosophy” [Hebrew], Perakim 1 (1967–1968): 35–55; idem, “Why was
Levi ben Abraham Hounded?,” PAAJR 34(1966): 65–76; idem, “Yedaiah Bedersi’s
Apology,” in Alexander Altmann, ed., Jewish Medieval and Renaissance Studies (Cambridge
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1967), 165–184; Charles Touati, “La controverse de
1303–1306 autour des études philosophiques et scientifiques,” REJ 117 (1968): 21–37;
Dov Schwartz, “Changing Fronts in the Controversies over Philosophy in Medieval
Spain and Provence,” Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 7 (1997): 75–79; idem,
“‘Greek Wisdom’: A Reexamination in the Period of the Controversy over the Study
of Philosophy” [Hebrew], Sinai 104 (1989): 148-153.
In the astrological chapter of his major work, Livyat Hen, Levi

renders a comprehensive and detailed account of how the stars exert
their qualitative influence on the earth, referring in particular to two
relevant modes of influence: (1) Influence on health and illness: “[The
astrologers] assigned to each of the planets, which possesses power in
its sign [of the Zodiac], sicknesses of certain limbs.”64 (2) Influence
on the creation of forms in the terrestrial world: “It would seem that
[the astrologers] assigned to each planet certain of the forms according
to the form of the (fixed) stars which have power and disposition, for
simple forms produce compound forms and act upon them...”65 The
combination of these two influences yields astral-magical practice:
Therefore, those proficient in images believe that the planet has power
over its own special images, which they make when it is in government
and power. Also specific to them according to their particular tempera-
ments are certain diseases and resistance to some diseases. Thus, specific
to Venus are diseases of the white [fluid], and to Mars, those of the red....
One makes of what is assigned to each planet a stone that is laid under
[a person] at the proper time, when the ascendant is associated with a
specific sign [of the Zodiac]; and we need not go into more detail.66
Not only did Levi recognize the reality of astral magic, but actually
considered it a remnant of “ancient wisdom,” quoting from a book
entitled Introduction to Forms that he attributed to Galen:
The Jews possess stories that have been written and ancient legends in
their books that teach what we have described. And these are told in
an allusive style.... For the spiritual elite [segullot, the intellectuals] does
not need the knowledge of the multitude, and the multitude does not
need the knowledge of the elite. And he [Galen] said of the first to hint
at these things, that is, Enoch [Hermes], that he had alluded to three
things before the spirituality lifted him up. It is not necessary to mention
them, for his words refer to the spirituality of the stars and the actions
64 Livyat Hen, “Fortieth Gate: On the Powers of the Stars,” Ms. Paris 1066/1,
7b. In the following discussion, several of the various surviving versions of this work
will be used. See Colette Sirat, “Les différentes versions du Livyat Hen de Levi b.
Abraham,” REJ 122 (1963), 167-177.
65 Livyat Hen, 1066/1, 7b.
66 Ibid., 7b–8a. Levi denied the truth of popular, non-astral magic, including it in
the category of forbidden science (“Greek wisdom”). See Schwartz, “‘Greek Wisdom:
A Reexamination,” 150. It is an interesting point that, during the fourteenth century,
“Greek wisdom” was identified with the capture of spirituality. See Dov Schwartz,
“More on the Issue of Greek Wisdom in Jewish Thought in the Fourteenth Century”
[Hebrew], Sinai 105 (1990): 94–95.
150 chapter five
of the images by virtue of what they have captured from the powers of
the stars and the segullot.67
The passage attributed to Galen presents a Hermetic tradition con-
cerning the antiquity of the magical secrets to which the Jews are
privy; the source of these secrets is “Enoch,” a name for Hermes.68
Levi himself proposed an interpretation of the passage quoted from
Galen:
When he said “the spirituality lifted him up,” he apparently meant that
because of [Enoch] secluding himself with wisdom and contemplating
the upper worlds, he ascended to God, as it is said, “then he was no
more, for God took him” [Genesis 5:24]. And they have also said that
certain images can be made at appropriate times that will heal some
sicknesses. Perhaps, that is why the Philistines once made golden images
of hemorrhoids in order to ward off the sickness of hemorrhoids that
was a common sickness in their land, and the Lord, Who can change
everything, nullified the powers of those images and afflicted them with
hemorrhoids because of the Ark.69 And they returned together with
[the Ark], as a gift, those gold images that had misled them, for they
had made them long before. Hence Israel, the wise, should trust only
in the worship of God and his love, for He is our physician, our shield,
and our shelter.70
Clearly, then, Levi b. Abraham believed in the real efficacy of making
an image for medical purposes, and considered it legitimate (“certain
images can be made at appropriate times”); this will be discussed
in further detail below. Proof of his belief in the reality of magical
67 Livyat Hen, Ms. Vatican 192, 120b–121a (Gate of Aggadah). The use of the term
“spirituality” for the influence of the stars and the dissemination of their “power”
over the earth recurs in the writings of Levi b. Abraham. In “Gate of Haggadah” he
indeed cites such a conceptual usage from the work Moznei ha-Iyyunim, misatribbuted
to Averroes (134a). On this work see Alexander Altmann, “The Ladder of Ascension,”
Studies in Religious Philosophy and Mysticism (London : Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969),
48, note 28; Binyamin Abrahamov, “The Sources of Mozené ha-Iyyunim” [Hebrew],
Da#at 34 (1995): 83–86. See Schwartz, Astral Magic, 120.
68 The identification of Enoch and Hermes, as well as quotations from Hermetic
literature attributed to Enoch, appear in the writings of the Neoplatonic circle dis-
cussed above. See, for instance, Solomon Alconstantin, Megalleh Amuqqot, Ms. Vatican
59, 10a; Solomon Franco, Supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s Torah Commentary, Ms. Oxford-
Bodl. 1258 (Hunt. 559), 61a, 72a; Joseph Bonfils, Tsafenat Pacaneah, vol. 1, ed. David
Herzog (Cracow, 1912), 222.
69 The words “and the Lord... the Ark” are erroneously repeated in the manu-
script. The text is referring to the story in 1 Samuel 6:5–11.

70 Livyat Hen, Ms. Vatican 192, 121a.
practices is his explanation of the Philistine episode: God had to act

to nullify the influence of the images, since the making of images is
an efficient means of healing.
The effect of astral magic could be used for good or evil. Levi pres-
ents astral-magical practice as an expression of evil (“black”) magic
in his synthetic interpretation of the terafim, Laban’s household idols.
His style relies directly on Ibn Ezra’s exegesis:
It would seem moreover that the terafim were also one of the tools of
the astrologers with which they reveal the future, and that is obvious
in the language of our Rabbis of blessed memory, when they speak of
the toref [the body or main part] of a deed, and witness “and without
ephod and terafim” (Hosea 3:4). Some have explained that it is an image
made to capture the power of the upper worlds, as witness “the terafim
have spoken vanity” (Zekharia 10:2). It seems to me that there are two
kinds of terafim, one good and the other evil, and it is these that are
mentioned.71
As an astrological tool, then, terafim are “good,” but as an instrument
to capture spirituality, they are to be considered “evil.” Nevertheless,
not all the aims of astral magic are evil. Levi considers the “worship
of God,” that is, the precepts of the Torah, as a means to bring down
spirituality for medical or defensive purposes. This is consistent with
a statement he makes elsewhere: “For one should behave in every
place in accordance with the nature of the country and the power of
the sign [of the Zodiac] that rules it.”72 Divine worship as a whole is thus
perceived as a positive theurgic means of capturing stellar emanation.
71 Livyat Hen, Ms. Munich 58, 56a. On Ibn Ezra’s exegesis see Schwartz, Astral
Magic, ch. 2.
72 Quoted from Colette Sirat, “Moses Narbonni’s Pirqey Moshe” [Hebrew], Tarbiz
39 (1970): 299. The idea appears as an exposition of Ibn Ezra’s commentary on

Deuteronomy 31:16, and it was also common in fourteenth century Spain. See
Dov Schwartz, “The Land of Israel in the Fourteenth Century Jewish Neoplatonic
School” [Hebrew], in The Land of Israel in Medieval Jewish Thought, edited by Moshe
Hallamish and Aviezer Ravitzky ( Jerusalem: Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, 1991), 146–149;
Zeev Harvey, “The Uniqueness of the Land of Israel in the Thought of Crescas”
[Hebrew], in The Land of Israel in Medieval Jewish Thought, ed. Moshe Hallamish
and Aviezer Ravitzky ( Jerusalem: Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, 1991), 157-160. See also
Schwartz, Astral Magic, ch. 9. According to Shlomo Pines, the idea that the precepts
of the Torah were intended to capture “positive” spirituality may already be found,
to some degree, in Judah Halevi. See ch. 1 above. See also Shlomo Pines, “On the
Term Ruhaniyyot and its Origin and on Judah Halevi’s Doctrine” [Hebrew], Tarbiz
57 (1988): 529, and Schwartz, Astral Magic, ch. 2. Levi, however, was opposed to a
consistent astral-magical exegesis of the Torah; see below.
152 chapter five
The idea that astral magic was an “ancient wisdom” harking back
to the time of the ancient Hebrews was common in Provence, and
Provençal scholars therefore used fictitious names, attributed to various
eponyms. In quoting Galen’s reference to Enoch, Levi was not the only
scholar to cite Hermetic traditions. One work written in the second
half of the fourteenth century, probably by a Provençal scholar, was
Ma#yan Gannim.73 Quoted in that work is an exegetical tradition about
the stones in shoulder-pieces of the high priest’s ephod, attributed to
The Book of Governance by one “Alexander”:
Aristotle ordered seals to be made and the names of certain planets
engraved on certain precious stones that are under the influence of those
planets, at certain times, to perpetuate [Alexander’s] dominance and
rule, and Scripture therefore said of them, “stones for the remembrance
of the Israelite people” (Exodus 28:12; 39:7).74
This tradition holds that astral magic yields certain advantages in
the political realm. It describes the priest as endowed with leadership
abilities that rely on stellar emanation and, as such, an aid to royalty.
The author of Ma#yan Gannim considered Hermetic tradition to be an
“ancient wisdom,” writing that “the wisdom of these matters has been
73 Ma#yan Gannim is an allegorical-philosophical commentary on the Creation

chapters of Genesis and on the book of Exodus. The author quotes mainly Proven-
çal scholars (except, of course, Maimonides), so that the work is consistent with the
Provençal insularity pointed out above. A few sources provide adequate illustration:
Ma#yan Gannim quotes Samuel ibn Tibbon on 132b (Ms. Vatican 274); Moses ibn
Tibbon, 143a; Jacob Anatoli, 137a–b; Moses Narboni, 127b, 129a, 131b. See also
Colette Sirat, “La Pensée philosophique de Moïse ibn Tibbon,” REJ 138 (1979):
506; Aviezer Ravitzky, “Aristotle’s Meteorologica and the Maimonidean Exegesis of
Creation” [Hebrew], Shlomo Pines Jubilee Volume: On the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday,
ed. Moshe Idel, Warren Zeev Harvey and Eliezer Schweid (Jerusalem: Jerusalem
Studies in Jewish Thought, 1988), 2: 238, 249.
74 Sefer Ma#yan Gannim, Ms. Vatican 274, 156b. This tradition is also stated with
the same attribution by Solomon Franco in his supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s

Torah commentary, 72b. See Moritz Steinschneider, Die hebräischen Übersetzungen des
Mittelalters und die Juden als Dolmetscher: ein Beitrag zur Literaturgeschichte des Mittelalters, meist
nach handschriftlichen Quellen (Berlin: Kommissionsverlag des Bibliographischen Bureaus,
1893), 247. In connection with the attribution of a Book of Governance to “Alexander,”
we note that the Hermetic work Picatrix contains a whole chapter discussing planetary
spirituality (dealing with ruÈaniyy§t al-zuh§l [the spirituality of Saturn] and ruhaniyyat
al-mirrikh [ the spirituality of Mars], and so forth), cited in the name of “Kitabat al-
Iskandar.” See, Picatrix, Part 3, ch. 9, in al-Majriti, Picatrix von Pseudo-Magriti: Das Ziel des
Wiesen, vol. 3, trans. Hellmut Ritter and Martin Plessner (London: Warburg Institute,
1962), 223. Note that Alexander the Great was traditionally said to have used images
and talismans in his wars; see Thorndike, History of Magic, vol. 2, 264.
lost, and this concerns all those matters written in this chapter [the
chapter of the Torah dealing with the priestly vestments] although
their explanations are unknown to us.”75
Around the beginning of the fourteenth century, Kalonymus b.
Kalonymus translated the Centiloquium, attributed to Ptolemy, with
the commentary of Abu Ja#far Ahmed b. Yusuf b. Ibrahim. That
work, too, features Hermetic-magical concepts, as has already been
shown here.76
Since Levi b. Abraham (like the anonymous author of Ma#yan Gannim
and perhaps also Kalonymus b. Kalonymus) recognized astral magic
as a legitimate realm of “ancient science,” he was clearly opposed
to those who considered bringing down spirituality on effigies to be
halakhically forbidden. Indeed, he seems to have feverishly sought
some way of halakhically legitimizing the manufacture of effigies for
medical purposes. His important account, in his work Sha#ar ha-Hag-
gadah, deserves quoting in full:
Therefore there are some who permit the making of some images
at certain times depending on the powers of the stars to heal certain
sicknesses, commanding that the image of a lion be made during the
rule of the sun; of gold, for sickness of the kidneys; and the image of a
scorpion for [its] bite; and for epilepsy [?]77 one makes the image of a
75 Ma#yan Gannim.
76 As noted, Jacob b. Solomon ha-Zarfati also quotes from the Centiloquium. The
book is also mentioned by Hasdai Crescas; see Renan, Les écrivains juifs français, 85,
431; Steinschneider, Hebräischen Übersetzungen, 529–530; Harvey, “Uniqueness of the
Land of Israel,” 158; Nathan Ophir, “Rabbi Hasdai Crescas as a Philosophical
Commentator on Rabbinic Sayings” [Hebrew] (Ph.D. dissertation: Hebrew Univer-
sity, 1993), 174. On Kalonymus b. Kalonymus as translator and his position in the
translation tradition see Alexander Marx, “The Scientific Work of Some Outstanding
Mediaeval Jewish Scholars,” in Israel Davidson, ed., Essays and Studies in Memory of
Linda R. Miller (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of America,1938), 150–153;
Alfred Lyon Ivry, “Philosophical Translations from the Arabic in Hebrew during the
Middle Ages,” in Jacqueline Hamesse and Marta Fattori, eds., Rencontres de culture dans
la philosophie médiévale (Louvain-la-Neuve : Universite catholique de Louvain, Institut
d’etudes medievales, 1990), 171. It should further be noted that Kalonymus b. Kal-
onymus translated astrological letters by al-Kindi, who was known for his writing on
astrology and astral magic (his translations have been preserved in a large number
of manuscripts; for example: Berlin 219.6; Munich 356.2; Paris 1055; Cambridge
343.16). See also Steinschneider, Hebräischen Übersetzungen, 563–565.
77 Heb. bi-nfol. Perhaps the correct reading is nofel, in the sense here translated.
Talmudic medicine considers flies the cause of a dermatological disease called ra"atan
(TB Ketubbot 77b). There are various interpretations of the nature of this disease,
including that of a disease consistent with epilepsy. Of course, it should be remembered
154 chapter five
fly of copper, to drive away any fly that might come there; and this is
no doubt in the category of segullah.78 Similarly, any image that is not
one of the forbidden images, such as the human face if made in relief
[three-dimensionally], or the image of a dragon, or the sun, or the moon,
or the signs [of the Zodiac], even if not in relief. Perhaps that is permit-
ted if done for medical purposes, for every educated person knows that
God granted powers to the stars and to his other creatures. However,
it is not appropriate to instruct the masses to do so, and it was in that
context that [the rabbis] said, “[Hezekiah] hid away the Book of Cures,
and [the rabbis] approved of it” [TB Berakhot 10b], for at that time
people were attracted to the worship of images; and this is indicated by
the parallel text of the Jerusalem Talmud in Tractate Nedarim, which
states that he hid [the Book of Cures] in a tablet,79 recalling the text,
“R. Gamliel used to have a diagram of phases of the moon on a tablet
[hung] on the wall, and so forth”80 But the prohibition is not explicit
in the text of Maimonides in Chapter 3 of the Laws of Idolatry, for
there the author is speaking of images made for ornamentation, and
there too he permits making images of animals, even in relief. Hence,
it is permitted to make some signs [of the Zodiac], provided he does
not intend the forms of the signs and show them in their configuration
in the heavens. And as he explained in the Guide about the Book of
Cures that Hezekiah hid away, that concerned [cures] accomplished
with incense and magic spells, and that is almost sorcery, as we have
noted previously.81
Levi’s argument here is somewhat hesitant. The legitimization of
making images is formulated as “there are some who permit.” He
similarly hedges his statements with such phrases as “perhaps that is
permitted” or “but the prohibition is not explicit.” Nevertheless, the
final conclusion is quite radical: astral magic is entirely permissible
from a halakhic point of view. Levi argues that making an image at a
time that has been determined by astrological calculations is equivalent
to segullah, that is, to a certain set of supposedly factual data attested
by experience. Thus, making an image is subject to the same law as
that talmudic medicine was not generally used in the Middle Ages; see Julius Preuss,
Biblical and Talmudic Medicine, trans. Fred Rosner (New York : Sanhedrin Press, 1978),
347–350. I am indebted to Professor Shmuel Kotek for his comments.
78 This term denotes findings that can be corroborated by “examination and
experience” (ibid.). Levi is referring here to the pharmacological meaning of the term
segullah, that is, he is stating that images are efficacious as medicines; see below.
79 The manuscript has a lacuna here. The source in the Jerusalem Talmud is
Nedarim 6:8, 40a; Pesahim 9:1, 36c.

80 M. Rosh ha-Shanah 2:8.
81 Livyat Hen, Ms. Vatican 192, 126a.
the legitimate use of a medication whose action cannot be explained

on the basis of its qualities. Moreover, not only is it permitted to
make an image for medical purposes; it is even permissible to use effigies
for such purposes, even such as are halakhically forbidden because of
the Second Commandment, such as human likenesses. There are, he
writes, only two restrictions on using an image: (1) Concerning the
form of a sign of the Zodiac, it is forbidden to “intend” the forms
of the signs or to draw them exactly as they appear in the heavens.
Levi, however, does not define what is meant by the verb “intend”
(kivven). (2) The means for capturing stellar spirituality may not be
combined with burning incense or magic spells.
But that is not all. Levi b. Abraham claims that his exposition is
consistent with that of Maimonides. Now Maimonides declares in no
uncertain terms that “it is forbidden to create an image of the sun and
the moon, the planets, the signs [of the Zodiac] and the angels... even
on a tablet.”82 Levi, however, rules that in any case “it is permitted to
make some signs.” Similarly, Maimonides rejects any recourse to the
astrological system out of hand, even for medical purposes. Levi, for
his part, takes a different halakhic stand, and permits the manufacture
of remedial images. Conceptually speaking, Levi b. Abraham was
absolutely convinced of the reality of astral-magical practice, that is,
of man’s ability to capture the spirituality of the stars and place it on
images and effigies, and of the efficacy of such measures.
It would appear that Levi b. Abraham had some influence on other
Provençal thinkers. Isaac de Lattes, an intellectual and historiographer
active in Provence in the second half of the fourteenth century, wrote
of Levi in tones of great admiration: “And the great scholar. R. Levi
son of R. Abraham son of R. Hayyim was learned in all sciences, he
wrote terrifying and wonderful works, one of them being the respected
book Livyat Hen, a valued and respected book, whose merit is known
only to a select few.”83 Levi b. Abraham was indeed an authoritative
82 Maimonides, Code, Laws of Idolatry 3:18.

83 Isaac de Lattes, Sha#arei Zion, printed in Menahem ha-Meiri, Seder ha-Kab-
balah, ed. Shlomo Zalman Havlin (Jerusalem and Cleveland: Ofeq Institute, 1992),
179. Lattes, himself a typical rationalist, clearly expresses his admiration for Levi b.
Abraham. As Havlin notes here (147), Sha#arei Zion is just one section of a complete
work, consisting of sixteen sections (“gates”), entitled Toledot Yitzhak or Kiryat Sefer.
This work included a philosophical commentary on the Torah (Ms. Oxford-Bodl.
1298 [Mich. 602], Twelfth Gate, 74a ff.), of which an example is the interpretation
of the Creation story according to the principles of Aristotle’s Meteorologica, to be
156 chapter five
figure among Provençal intellectuals. The scholar most influenced by

him was Frat Maimon (Solomon b. Menahem). Frat Maimon refers
to him with veneration as “my teacher” (mori), though they may never
even have met. In addition, Frat Maimon wrote a commentary on
Levi’s rhymed poem Batei ha-Nefesh ve-ha-Lehashim. Frat Maimon and his
three disciples Jacob Farissol, Nethanel Caspi and Solomon b. Judah
of Lunel in effect formed a kind of philosophical circle whose thought
was influenced by Levi b. Abraham.84 Frat Maimon believed in the
reality of astral magic, as he explicitly states in his supercommentary
on Abraham ibn Ezra’s Torah commentary. The passage in which
he does so is probably an excerpt from a lost commentary on Judah
Halevi’s The Kuzari, which is quoted almost identically in the writings
of his three disciples:
Said my teacher [Frat Maimon]: It was to this that Ibn Ezra alluded
in the Torah portion ve-Zoth ha-Berakhah [Deuteronomy 33-34], where
he wrote: “‘He buried him in the valley’—Know that the mountain of
Abarim, which is Mount Nevo, is the image of a star [kokhav]...”85 Now
his statement that it is the image of a star merits attention. Indeed, he
is referring to the image of the planet Mercury [kokhav hammah],86 for
you know its government over intellection, and its sphere is called the
sphere of knowledge, and it is the ransom [redeemer] and the ruler of
prophecy and truth and intellect and Torah and precepts. Now all these
were precisely Moses’ powers, and that place was already created at
the time of Creation, and that mountain was shaped in the established
image of the planet Mercury. And Moses, may he rest in peace, chose
that place to be alone there and to take his leave of the world, and the
power of that planet is greater in that place than in any other place, and
in it there is more disposition than elsewhere for [spiritual] conjunction,
found in the commentary Toledot Yitzhak to the Creation story. Another example is
Lattes’ use of a phrase commonly used by Joseph ibn Caspi, when he writes that
“the multitude may be likened to animals” (ibid., 143a).
84 On his circle of disciples see my articles: “A Study of the Philosophical Variety
in Spain and Provence before the Expulsion” [Hebrew], Pe#amim 49 (1992): 12-15;
“Contacts Between Jewish Philosophy and Mysticism in the Rise of the Fifteenth
Century” [Hebrew], Da#at 29 (1992): 41-67; “Asceticism and Self-Mortification in
Attitudes Held by a Provençal Circle of Commentators of the Kuzari” [Hebrew],
Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 11 (1993): 79-91; “The Theology of the Provençal
Kuzari Commentators’ Circle” [Hebrew], Tarbiz 64 (1995): 401-421.
85 Ibn Ezra, Commentary on the Torah, Deuteronomy 34:6.
86 The Hebrew word for star or planet, kokhav, is also one of the names of the
planet Mercury.
in addition to the intellect and perfection that were in Moses our leader,
may he rest in peace.87
Thus, Frat Maimon believed that the spirituality of the planet Mercury
was a source of religious and intellectual merits, including prophecy.
The emanation could not be received without the proper substrate
(“preparation”), including a special place “the mountain of Abarim”)
and an image of the planet Mercury. Clearly, then, Frat Maimon
believed in the reality of capturing celestial spirituality, even in refer-
ence to such areas as religious and intellectual perfection. His inter-
pretation is a perfect example of astral magical exegesis of a biblical
episode—the death and burial of Moses. It provides incontrovertible
evidence that Levi b. Abraham’s ideas had struck roots among Pro-
vençal rationalists, including his astral magical world view.
Frat Maimon’s disciples, nevertheless, did not fully concur with
his radical position on this issue, as evidenced by Solomon b. Judah’s
explicit reservations about such uses of magic.88 In other words, around
the beginning of the fifteenth century, attitudes to astral magic were
again subjected to a reappraisal, resulting in a moderation of views.
In the fourteenth century, however, and even before that, Levi b.
Abraham and the members of his circle overtly and boldly upheld the
use of astral-magical practices, both per se and from a strictly halakhic
viewpoint.
87 Jacob Farissol, Beit Yaakov, Ms. Berlin 124, 18b; Netanel Caspi, Commentary on
The Kuzari (erroneously identified as Edut le-Yisrael, the lost commentary of Frat him-
self), Ms. Paris 677/1, 21b (neither of the latter mention Frat by name); Solomon b.
Judah, Heshek Shelomo, Ms. Oxford 2383, 20b. This commentary is cited anonymously
(“It is said...” [yesh omer]) in Meqor Hayyim by Samuel ibn Zarza, active in Spain at
the same time as Frat (Meqor Hayyim, Mantua 1559, 129c). Moses is portrayed in
the above passage as a magician, and in that respect Frat is actually invoking an
age-old tradition. The portrayal was also reinforced by the comparison of Moses
and Balaam. See Moshe Idel, “The Magical and Neoplatonic Interpretations of the
Kabbalah in the Renaissance,” in Bernard D. Cooperman, ed., Jewish Thought in the
Sixteenth Century (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1983), 202-203; Dorit
Cohen-Alloro, Magic and Sorcery in the Book of the Zohar [Hebrew] (Ph.D. dissertation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1989), 141-178.
88 See above, pp. 133-135. Further examples of this reserved attitude will be
cited in my forthcoming edition of the commentary of Solomon b. Judah of Lunel

on The Kuzari.
158 chapter five
Astral Magic as a Theological Factor
The attitudes represented by Levi b. Abraham and his circle attracted

other Provençal thinkers, though none of them actually dealt with
the halakhic aspect of the issue. In their commentaries on various
sources, they treated the capture of celestial spirituality as a fait accom-
pli. They went beyond Levi himself; he had argued forcefully that it
was permissible to practice astral magic for medical purposes but,
as will be seen below, he opposed the use of its principles in biblical
exegesis. In contrast, Nissim of Marseilles, Moses Narboni, and others
wrote commentaries that offered expressly magical interpretation of
the sacred texts and, through them, magical exegesis gained wide
acceptance. The point of departure of these thinkers was rooted in
Avicenna’s doctrine that the perfect man, by virtue of his mind or
his intellectual and scientific level, could control nature and perform
wonders and miracles.89 Astral magic practice reflected one aspect
of this wondrous ability.
One central theological issue that provided wide scope for astral-
magical conceptions was of course the explanation of the reasons for
the sacrifices. As noted, the magical aspect of sacrifice is twofold: in
a positive sense, the sacrifice is a means for capturing spirituality; in a
negative sense, it serves as a “ransom” and scapegoat, mitigating the
negative affect of the heavenly bodies or diverting it to the sacrifice
itself. Many sacrifices were offered at set times (the daily burnt offer-
ing, additional sacrifices on the Sabbath and festivals, and so on). This
temporal element immediately links the sacrificial rites with astral
magic, which also depends on temporal calculations. It was thus quite
natural that fourteenth-century rational thinkers wove astral magic
into their theological perceptions of sacrifice.
We begin with Nissim of Marseilles. Like Gersonides, he believed
that sacrifices had a psychological purpose. A sacrifice helped the
prophet focus his faculties of thought and imagination and concen-
trate them, so that he could predict the future: “[The patriarchs, the
prophets, and so forth] would prepare their thought and arouse their
imagination to this, not diverting attention to any other, extraneous
thought.” But Nissim went further than Gersonides in the magical
implications he attributed to the act of offering a sacrifice. In his view,
89 See Schwartz, Astral Magic, 19.

the odor of the burning inner parts of the animal was a real aid to
knowledge of the future, after the manner of “diviners, priests of high
places, Baal, Astarte, and those who make images and talismans.”90
The magical object of the sacrifice was thus prediction of the future
and, as such, it was used mainly by the prophet. Sacrificial rites, then,
have political and communal significance, reflected in their contribu-
tion to the prediction of the future.
Moses Narboni, who was born in Provence but emigrated to Spain,
viewed sacrifices as means for the capture of spirituality, but endowed
magical practices with a much broader object: to maintain the proper
order of social and religious life in the Land of Israel. His point of
departure was the astrological theory of climate, according to which
the world is divided into seven climates, each affected by one of the
seven planets. The sacrificial rites were designed to capture the spirituality of the
planet, particularly influencing the Land of Israel. As he writes:
As you already know, the scholars apportioned each climate to a par-
ticular guardian angel, and so it is with respect to all climates. And the
true scholars said that the earthly Temple was in correspondence with
the heavenly Temple,91 and therefore the Torah commanded all those
things that are remnants of the heavenly Temple, and rejected things
that are repulsive to it.92
Clearly, then, Narboni saw in sacrifices a means for capturing spiri-
tuality, and considered such astral-magical practices absolutely nec-
essary for the welfare of the Jews in the Land of Israel: “For since
the matter of the sacrifices is a great secret, to be divulged only to a
90 Ma#aseh Nissim, ch. 14, in Joshua Heschel Schorr, He-Halutz 7 (1865): 130. Part
of the passage is cited by Sirat, “Moses Narbonni’s Pirqei Moshe,” 300–301.
91 See TB Ta#anit 5a. Narboni gives the well-known idea of a heavenly Jerusalem
(or Temple) analogous to the earthly city (or Temple)—an expression of the Platonic
doctrine of ideas—a magical interpretation. See Victor Aptowitzer, “The Heavenly
Temple in the Agada” [Hebrew], Tarbiz 2 (1931): 137–153, 257–287; Ephraim E.
Urbach, “Earthly and Heavenly Jerusalem” [Hebrew], in The World of the Sages (Jeru-
salem: Magnes Press, 1988), 376–391.
92 Pirqei Moshe, ch. 3, in Sirat, “Moses Narbonni’s Pirqei Moshe,” 305. This climatic
theory is common to Narboni, the author of the supercommentary Perush ha-Sodot

on Ibn Ezra, and Nissim of Marseille. See Hayyim Kreisel, “The Land of Israel
and Prophecy in Medieval Jewish Philosophy” [Hebrew], in Moshe Hallamish and
Aviezer Ravitzky, The Land of Israel in Medieval Jewish Thought (Jerusalem: Yad Yit-
shak Ben Zvi, 1991) 50–51. On astral climatology see Alexander Altmann, “The
Climatological Factor in Yehudah Hallevi’s Theory of Prophecy” [Hebrew], Melilah
1 (Manchester 1944), 4–8, 13.
160 chapter five
select few, it was given to the priests, and it is therefore quite clear
that the spirituality to which we are referring is received through the
burning [of the sacrifice], and it maintains the land and its people,
illuminating them.”93
This concept of the Temple as a talisman capable of absorbing
heavenly emanation was also adopted by Frat Maimon’s disciple
Nethanel Caspi in his commentary on The Kuzari. Judah Halevi had
stated in his work (4:3) that the word “adonay” as a divine name could
also be assigned to certain objects, such as the light of the glory.
Caspi explained that this name also applied to celestial spirituality.
Commenting on Judah Halevi’s statement, “When one is referring to a
divine thing, one says, adonay, [the name written] with alef, dalet, nun,
yod... alluding to what exists facing him in the place,”94 he explains:
“What he means is that when we say adonay, this alludes to what is
facing the speaking prophet, that is, to the force that comes from the
ruler in accordance with its presence in the place where the prophet
is standing, for the emanation will flow and be received in accordance
with the preparation of the place.”95 Prophecy, then, is achieved as
a consequence of the star’s spirituality. Caspi relies on the theory of
special places, according to which there exist places that are particularly
disposed to capture celestial emanation. The prophet secludes himself
in such places and is granted his prophecy. The special places are also
considered appropriate for sacrifices. A few lines later, Judah Halevi
writes, “There are many attributes for a single essence, because of
the changing of the receptive place.” Caspi’s explanation invokes the
93 Pirqei Moshe. The meaning of the last two words in this passage, translated
here as “illuminating them,” is not clear. The phrase may also be understood as
“giving rest.” The whole topic is treated by Gitit Holtzman, “The Reasons for the
Commandments according to Rabbi Moses Narboni” [Hebrew], Assufot: Annual for
Jewish Studies 9 (1995): 281–283.
94 Hebrew “mah she-ke-negdo ba-makom.” This is the reading in the manuscript
of Caspi’s commentary. Judah ibn Tibbon, however, translates, “alluding to what

is limited in the place” (mah she-yugbal ba-makom; ed. Tzifroni, p. 212 line 15). Ibn
Tibbon’s translation seems to be a more faithful rendering of the Arabic text in
Al-Kitab al-Khazari, ed. David H. Baneth (Jerusalem: Magnes Press and the Israel
Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1977), 153, l. 28. Caspi offers an astrological
interpretation, following the translation adjoining his commentary, which alludes to
the planet aligned with the specific place.
95 Commentary on The Kuzari, Ms. Paris 677, 120b. The passage is quoted ver-
batim in Beit Yaakov, Jacob Farissol’s commentary on The Kuzari, 94a–b. This implies
that both Caspi and Farissol were quoting their teacher Frat Maimon.
same principle: “The receptive place alludes to the Sanctuary and to

Mount Moriah, which were chosen in accordance with their disposition
to emanation, as Scripture says, ‘This is the gate of heaven [Genesis
28:17].”96 Nethanel Caspi thus agrees with Narboni’s thesis that the
Temple was designed as a substrate for the capture of spirituality.97
It follows from the discussion of the sacrifices that not only was
astral magic granted a legitimate status for medical purposes, but it
also became an important theological and exegetical component in the
writings of Provençal rationalists. As argued above, this process was
a radicalization even of the positions expressed by Levi b. Abraham.
That author, in the short version of his Livyat Hen, consistently refrained
from astral-magical interpretations that might have been relevant.
For example, he objected to describing the Temple as a talisman for
the capture of spirituality; he explained incense as merely a source of
pleasant odor, rather than as a means to capture spirituality.98 His
interpretation of the Temple and the sacrifices is different, following that
of Maimonides, according to which they were intended to counteract
such gentile practices as the capture of spirituality. As an example,
here is Levi’s explanation for the burning of incense:
The meaning of the incense is that the worshipers of images used to burn
incense to the heavenly host. Maimonides said that since the Creator
commanded us to honor and magnify His Temple and fear Him and
glorify Him, there is no doubt that because of the constant slaughter
and dismemberment of many animals, the place will have an evil and
repulsive smell for the multitude. He therefore commanded that incense
be burnt there always for the benefit of its odor and its worship.99
While Levi offered an astronomical and astrological interpretation of
the Tabernacle and its appurtenances, he insisted that they symbolized
truths and intelligibles associated with the world of the spheres—truths
96 Commentary on The Kuzari, 121a.

97 The connection between prophecy and the Temple and its rites as talismans,
that is, as means for the capture of spirituality, became a particularly well-known
doctrine in Renaissance Italy; see Idel, “Magical and Neoplatonic Interpretations,”
203-206.
98 Livyat Hen, Ms. Munich 58, 44a–b. As noted, incense was an important ingredi-
ent in magical practices for healing purposes.

99 Ibid., 43b. The reference is to Guide of the Perplexed 3:32. See also in the short
version of Livyat Hen, 45a: “Those fools used to sacrifice and burn incense to them
besides other rites, because they thought that this would be pleasant and proper for
those powers.”
162 chapter five
intended for contemplation and study, not to be explained as properly

magical means. One could, he believed, agree with astrological inter-
pretations, but it was forbidden to base such interpretations on “the
science of images.” Similarly, he denied that the magical interpreta-
tion of the biblical story of Balaam, who was indeed a magician and
prepared altars for sacrifices and incense, could have any relevance
for the present. As he wrote:
The reason for the small number of priests and sorcerers in our time is
to deny belief in them, and to persecute and wipe out anyone who uses
this technique; and no one prepares himself and works in such things at
all, unless brought to it by his natural disposition. And perhaps the reason
is that when it was common it endowed the heavenly system extant at
that time with power; but now the temperaments have weakened, as
have the proper preparations for that, as they said in connection with
the lack of prophecy at that time.100
Possibly, Levi’s attitude to astral magic evolved in time to some extent.
It is equally plausible, however, that he distinguished magical practice
per se, which was absolutely permissible since intended for remedial
purposes, from the idea that such practice could be a central theo-
logical principle for the interpretation of the Bible. Astral magic had
thus become in Levi b. Abraham’s estimation a useful tool, of con-
siderable practical importance, but not an essentially religious factor
that could shape a consistent theological worldview. The Provençal
rationalists of the later fourteenth century, however, thought other-
wise. They had no scruples about presenting the Temple as a talisman and the
sacrifices as means for the capture of spirituality. As already stated, Nissim of
Marseilles, Moses Narboni and Nethanel Caspi did directly consider
the halakhic aspects of astral magic. Nevertheless, it seems plausible
that the fusion of the principles of astral magic with basic theological
perceptions also helped to enhance its halakhic legitimization in the
controversy that flared up in the fourteenth century.
Conclusions
In light of the description of the various perceptions of astral magic in

Provence, it becomes necessary to reexamine the following historical
100 That is, in the present; ibid., 16a.

and ideological conceptions about the intellectual climate of Provence

in the fourteenth century:
1. The ideological and halakhic argument about astral magic was
not inspired only by the controversy over the study of philosophy;
Provençal thinkers were concerned with attitudes to astral magic
in and of itself. Presumably, the fanatical attack of Abba Mari
Astruc of Lunel was associated with that issue, rather than with
the dispute over philosophy and allegorical exegesis. Moreover,
Hermetical traditions were part of the rationalists’ regular cur-
riculum, a fact that left its mark in their medical practice. Abba
Mari Astruc considered this grounds for his attack due to the
closeness to idolatry, since he himself believed in the reality of
astral magic as such. He unhesitatingly recognized popular magic,
which dealt in charms and spells against demons.101 He objected
to astral magic as an area characteristic of the rationalists, relying
as it did on comprehensive, accurate astrological knowledge. This
assumption also contributes to our conception of the figure of the
rationalist at the time.
2. The controversy revolved mostly around the medical uses of magic.
Presumably, then, a distinction was drawn between the use of astral
magic for medical as opposed to other purposes. As noted,102 the
major opponent of astral magic, Maimonides, permitted certain
practices of a magical nature for healing, provided they were not
astral. Possibly, then, medicine enjoyed a special status, implying
some receptiveness to magic. This distinction deserves a separate
discussion.
3. Many scholars have tended to play down Levi b. Abraham’s
contribution to the outbreak of the controversy. He is generally
seen as a kind of scapegoat, a victim of events,103 rather than an
101 See above, n. 33. On popular magic in Provence see, for instance, Joshua
Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic and Superstition (New York: Atheneum, 1979), 68.
102 Schwartz, Astral Magic, ch. 3.
103 See, for instance, Halkin, “The Ban on the Study of Philosophy”; Yithzak
Baer, A History of the Jews in Christian Spain, trans. Louis Schoffman (Philadelphia:
Jewish Publications Society, 1961), 292, 294; Frank Talmage, “Apples of God: The
Inner Meaning of Sacred Texts in Medieval Judaism,” in Arthur Green, ed., Jewish
Spirituality (London: Crossroad, 1986), 341. Talmage cites examples of allegoristic
interpretation of the commandments even by more moderate rationalists, such as
Hasdai Crescas. In relation to the radical nature of allegorism, however, two important
factors should not be ignored: (1) The context of the interpretation. The radicals
164 chapter five
active intellectual agitator, whose inspired preaching was designed

to disseminate his radical brand of rationalism; moreover, in the
present context, he may be seen as a thinker bent on achieving
the halakhic and theological legitimization of astral magic. I have
tried to show elsewhere that, by dint of the radical nature of his
philosophical doctrines, Levi might be considered a central, decisive
factor in the outbreak of the controversy.104 The present analysis
clearly shows that his views provided zealous, determined support
for astral-magical practices. Levi b. Abraham was no secondary
figure, but a deliberately radical rationalist.
4. Scholars have also held that the controversy died down after the
events of the ban (1305). It turns out, however, that the issues
underlying the outbreak of the controversy continued to trouble
Provençal thinkers of both camps at least until the beginning of the
fifteenth century. Astral-magical interpretation of the sources took
root and became a basic theological tool, while the traditionalists
continued to prohibit astral-magical practices. I have proved else-
where that this was true of the attitude to the study of philosophy
and of the rationalist position in general,105 and in the present
context the situation is obvious as far as attitudes to astral magic
are concerned. It is not inconceivable that the dispute should also
be associated with the objections of the Church to astral magic at
this time.
proposed allegories that relied on rational principles, such as the Aristotelian world
picture or the ideal of intellectualism; this was contrary to more general interpretations,
which deal with such issues as spirit and matter, or body and soul in general. (2) The
frequency and consistency of such interpretations and their public dissemination. A
distinction is required between allegorical exegesis addressed to a limited intellectual
elite, on the one hand, as opposed to consistent allegorical exegeses openly available
to any reader or preacher. An example of a radical allegorical interpretation of the
commandments that is both contextually rational and continuous appears in a circle
of contemporary Spanish thinkers. See Dov Schwartz, “The Spiritual Decline of the
Jewish Community in Spain at the End of the Fourteenth Century” [Hebrew], Pe#amim
46–47 (1991): 92-114.
104 See Dov Schwartz, Messianism in Medieval Jewish Thought [Hebrew] (Ramat-Gan:
Bar-Ilan University Press, 1997), index, s.v. “Levi b. Abraham.” Nevertheless, the
dimensions of the controversy prior to the ban were sometimes violently irrational;
in that respect, this controversy was no different from many others. See, for instance,
Moshe Idel, “On the History of the Interdiction against the Study of Kabbalah
before the Age of Forty” [Hebrew], AJS Review 5 (1980): 4–6.
105 See my forthcoming edition of Solomon b. Judah’s commentary on The
Kuzari.
5. At the beginning of the fifteenth century, certain Provençal think-

ers took a more moderate stand, firmly rejecting the use of astral
magic, though still recognizing its reality and efficacy. This is the
conclusion from the position of Solomon b. Judah of Lunel, and
it is generally confirmed by an examination of the works of other
thinkers of his circle.
6. Finally, it must be reiterated that the controversy over astral magic
reveals a distinct difference between Spanish and Provençal think-
ers. The latter tended to adopt well-defined, radical positions,
bringing the controversy to the point of open confrontation. In
Spain, however, attitudes are more moderate, as suggested by the
hesitations expressed by Rashba, a resident of Barcelona. Whereas
some condemn radical rationalism, others deplore the courtier
class and Averroism, but criticism was couched in general terms:
Shem Tov b. Shem Tov attacked theoretical perceptions, while
Solomon El-Ami protested the general moral decline.106 Provençal
traditionalism, however, was concerned with eminently practical
areas, such as the attitude to the medical uses of astral magic.
The study of the various contacts between proponents of the rationalist
and traditionalist attitudes to astral magic in Provence may contribute
to our understanding of the ideological climate in this area during the
fourteenth century. This conclusion spans the boundaries of defined
research areas, perhaps helping to delineate the ideological, historical,
and polemical foundations of Provençal Jewry, as well as the dissemi-
nation of astrological and Hermetical traditions at the time.
106 See Schwartz, Philosophy of a 14th Century Jewish Neoplatonic Circle, 23–27.
the controversy in spanish jewry 167
CHAPTER SIX
THE CONTROVERSY IN SPANISH JEWRY
A unique fourteenth-century phenomenon was the writing of

numerous supercommentaries on Abraham ibn Ezra’s Commen-
tary on the Torah.1 Many thinkers chose to express their ideas as
commentaries on Ibn Ezra’s enigmatic teachings, while others sincerely
sought after the meaning of the allusions in his commentary. Of all
these supercommentaries, some were more influential than others.
For example, as far as Ibn Ezra’s linguistic comments and literal
explanations are concerned, the supercommentary by Solomon ibn
Ya#ish (“ha-bahur”) had a considerable impact. On philosophical ques-
tions, Solomon Franco’s supercommentary, written in the middle of
the fourteenth century, was undoubtedly the best known, as well as
the most fruitful and provocative of its kind.2 It was severely, even
ferociously, criticized, but would also be openly and covertly influ-
ential on the other.
The Background to the Controversy
Solomon Franco draws a clear distinction between his personal opinions

and Ibn Ezra’s authentic intentions, which are gradually revealed in
1 For the varieties of philosophical interpretation of Ibn Ezra’s Torah commentary
in this period see Uriel Simon, “Interpreting the Interpreter: Supercommentaries on

Ibn Ezra’s Commentaries,” in Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra: The Writings of a Twelfth-Century
Polymath, ed. Isadore Twersky and Jay Michael Harris (Cambridge: Harvard Uni-
versity Center for Jewish Studies, 1993), 111–121; Dov Schwartz, The Philosophy of a
Fourteenth Century Jewish Neoplatonic Circle [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Bialik Institute 1996);
idem, Amulets, Properties and Rationalism in Medieval Jewish Thought [Hebrew] (Ramat-
Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press: 2004), 67-93.
2 Franco has received sporadic attention over the years. See M. Friedlander, Essays
on the Writings of Abraham Ibn Ezra, vol. 4 (London: Trubner, 1877), 242-243; Judah Leib
Fleischer, “Commentaries on R. Abraham Ibn Ezra’s Commentary on the Torah”
[Hebrew], Otsar ha-Hayyim 11, no. 3 (1934): 80–84; Yitzhak Tzvi Langermann, “From the
Collections of the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts of the Jewish National
and University Library in Jerusalem” [Hebrew], Kiryat Sefer 59 (1984), 637–638; Dov
Schwartz, “The Neoplatonic Movement in Fourteenth Century Jewish Literature: Its
Relation to Medicine” [Hebrew], Qorot 9 (1990): 274–275.
168 chapter six
the supercommentary. He seems to recoil from the extreme views he

finds in Ibn Ezra’s commentary, throwing up a barrier between his own
views and those of Ibn Ezra. His task, he writes, is exclusively that of
an interpreter; he does not identify with the object of his commentary.
But his contemporaries refused to believe these sanctimonious protes-
tations, and rightly so. They were sure that the conceptions Franco
attributed to Ibn Ezra were his own: the rationalists cited them with
open admiration, while the moderates and the traditionalists tore into
them with uncompromising rage.
In the second half of the fourteenth century, Solomon Franco’s
supercommentary was indeed one of the direct causes of the dispute
between conservatism and rationalism. The major criticism came from
one of the most extreme conservatives, Abraham Altabib.3 Arrayed
against this formidable opponent were Franco’s supporters, one of the
most prominent of whom was Ezra Gatigno, who frequently quotes
Franco appreciatively in his own supercommentary, Sod ha-Shem li-Yre"av,
which claimed to clarify philosophically problematic passages in Ibn
Ezra’s commentary on the Torah. Though Gatigno is sometimes criti-
cal, he remains faithful to the spirit of Franco’s comments and views.
Gatigno cites verbatim much of Franco’s exegesis, which provoked a
furious controversy between Franco and Altabib. Gatigno was not alone
in his position. Samuel ibn Zarza also cites Franco quite frequently,
generally with approval, though without actually mentioning him by
name. Finally, Shem Tov ibn Mayor also quotes frequently from
Franco’s supercommentary, agreeing with and supporting him, though
he too did not hesitate to criticize him occasionally. Clearly, then, the
controversy between Altabib and Franco was significant beyond its
specific exegetical and philosophical context, with implications for the
intellectual and cultural history of the Jews at that time.
Altabib’s objections have not survived in their original form. Nev-
ertheless, Franco, in most of his rebuttals, is careful—so he says—to
quote Altabib’s objections verbatim, so we may assume that they have
indeed come down us relatively intact. Opening his answers to the
critique, Franco summarizes Altabib’s general accusations as they
3 See Dov Schwartz, “R. Abraham Al-Tabib: The Man and His Oeuvre” [Hebrew],
Kiryat Sefer 64 (1992): 1389–1401. In this article, I published fragments of Al-Tabib’s

supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s Torah commentary that have been preserved in other
contemporary supercommentaries.
emerge from the numerous details. Here are Altabib’s two complaints
and Franco’s responses:4
Accusation 1
Altabib:
Franco’s ideas in his supercommentary contradict the teachings of the
Torah and rabbinic tradition.
Franco:
These ideas are Ibn Ezra’s views; he (Franco) himself believes in the
literal meaning of the text.
Accusation 2
Altabib:
Franco dares to attribute his perverse views to Ibn Ezra.
Franco:
These views are well entrenched in Ibn Ezra’s text that, although brief
and allusive at times, is more expansive elsewhere, so that his “secrets”
may be deciphered.
It is interesting that Franco does not deny Altabib’s first complaint
outright; he was fully aware that the ideas he was propounding were
rational and radical, even somewhat antinomian. All he could say was
that “the way of the Torah is one thing and the way of philosophy
another; for myself, I have chosen the way of faith” (90a). This asser-
tion, considered in the perspective of Franco’s writings as a whole,
raise doubts as to the soundness of the supposed barrier between his
views and those of Ibn Ezra.5
Most of Altabib’s objections that were founded on scientific assump-
tions lacked proper support in the actual text of Ibn Ezra; rather,
they betray the attacker’s conservative theology. Altabib’s frequent
4 Figures in parentheses refer to Ms. Oxford, Bodl. 1258.

5 Franco’s statement essentially represents his Averroistic conception of dual truth,
according to which the philosophic method is not applicable to religious learning, while
the religious method is not suitable for philosophical discussion. Franco makes the
statement in his response to Altabib’s critique, below on pp. 93b–94a. On this concept
in Franco’s writings see Dov Schwartz, “The Fourteenth-Century Neoplatonic Trend
in the Jewish Doctrine of Creation” [Hebrew], Tarbiz 60 (1991): 620; idem, “The
Spiritual-Religious Decline of the Jewish Community in Spain at the End of the 14th
Century” [Hebrew], Pe#amim 46-47 (1991): 104–105.
170 chapter six
appeals to scientific— astronomical and astrological—principles was

superficial. They generally fade and disappear in the face of Franco’s
scientific credentials as a knowledgeable astronomer and astrologer.
Hence, Franco’s rather hollow protestations about the barrier he had
erected between Ibn Ezra and himself do not undermine his answers
to his critic. While Altabib’s purely scientific arguments were faulty,
however, his theological objections were accurate: he pinpointed the
problematic aspects of Franco’s views, his not infrequent excursions
to the very brink of Hermetic influence. One example is Franco’s
outspoken advocation of one certain species of idolatry—the worship
of heavenly bodies—to which we now proceed.
The Controversial Issues
Those of Altabib’s objections that relate to the status of astral magic

seem to be quite apt; it was Franco who, in this context, twisted and
turned, sometimes directly revealing his own radical views. Altabib
sensed that, for Franco, the various precepts of the Torah were instru-
ments to capture the spirituality of the heavenly bodies; in particular,
the Tabernacle, the Temple, and the sacrifices became talismans whose
task was to receive stellar emanation. In so doing, Altabib argued,
Franco was legitimizing the worship of stars.6
Most probably, Franco himself realized that he had been too explicit,
failing to conceal his allusions behind a sufficiently opaque veil. He
therefore reiterated that worship of planets is nothing less than idolatry,
absolutely forbidden for any devout Jew. He makes this declaration,
for example, in connection with the observance of the Sabbath as
induced by the influence of Saturn (hassagah 5, 93a–b); the prohibition
of using iron in the building of the Tabernacle (hassagah 21, 100b); the
reasons for the dietary laws (hassagah 27, 105a); and the motivations of
6 On this exegetical and philosophical trend in the fourteenth century see Dov
Schwartz, “The Land of Israel in the Fourteenth Century Jewish Neoplatonic School”
[Hebrew], in Moshe Hallamish and Aviezer Ravitzky, The Land of Israel in Medieval
Jewish Thought (Jerusalem: Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, 1991), 146–147; idem, “Varieties
of Magic in Jewish Thought in Fourteenth Century Spain” [Hebrew], PAAJR 57
(1990–1991): 17–47; idem, “Astrology and Astral Magic in the Writings of R. Solomon
Alconstantin” [Hebrew], Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Folklore 15 (1993): 37-82. The number-
ing of the objections [hassagot] follows the complete edition of the objections and answers
published in Dov Schwartz, Amulets, Properties, and Rationalism in Medieval Jewish Thought
[Hebrew] (Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University Press, 2004), 317-380.
the festivals (hassagah 28, 106a). But as Franco’s arguments proceed,

these overt repudiations of planetary worship ring rather hollow, and
they ultimately prove false. As we shall see below, Franco was con-
vinced that the Torah permits planetary worship in certain situations;
concerning some of these situations this is stated quite explicitly, while
for others his radical view is implicit in various allusions.
Thus, Franco based worship in the Tabernacle, particularly the
sacrificial rites, and the reasons for the precepts in general on the
idea that the spirituality of the heavenly bodies had to be brought
down to the material world and the planets themselves worshiped.
We will now review several exegetical issues that have an essential
bearing on astral magic; it was concerning such issues that the fiercest
controversy erupted between Altabib and Franco. The dispute and
its reverberations will be described in relation to two main issues: (1)
the motive for the ritual of the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement;
(2) the reasons for the dietary laws. This account, however brief, will
reveal something of the general features of the controversy and the
positions of each side.
The Scapegoat
Franco bases the ritual of the scapegoat on the worship of Saturn and
Mars. Since, as he states, these two planets are influential on the Day
of Atonement, the ritual of the two goats is designed to nullify their
evil, aggressive influence. As he writes in his commentary:
It seems to me that the view of this sage [Ibn Ezra] is that, since on
the tenth day of the seventh month the moon is in Capricorn, which
is the abode of Mars, and also since it is always in one of the abodes
of Saturn on that day, that is why they would perform the rite of the
he-goats [avodat ha-se#irim], one for the Lord and the other for Azazel,
who is the guardian angel of Mars, so that they should not cause harm
as is in their nature.7
According to Franco, then, the goat set aside “for the Lord” is meant
for Saturn, while the other, “for Azazel,” is for Mars. Moreover,
Altabib takes sharp exception to the expression “the rite of the he-
goats” (hassagah 24), on the grounds of the apparent self-contradiction
in another passage of Franco. On the one hand, Franco explains the
7 Franco’s Commentary on Ibn Ezra, Ms. Oxford 1258, 76a.

172 chapter six
text as prescribing such a rite. On the other, concerning the text “and
that they may offer their sacrifices no more to the goat-demons...”
(Leviticus 17:7), he comments that worship of evil heavenly bodies is
forbidden. Altabib, therefore, urges a return to the classical conception
of kofer [ransom, expiation by proxy]: in this passage, he claims, the
Torah is teaching us a technique for nullifying evil influence; there is
no question of direct astral worship. Franco, however, does not see
any contradiction in his exegesis: astral worship is forbidden, except
in situations where it is explicitly permitted, and even necessary, as
in the rite of the he-goats:
And therefrom you may understand and explain away your difficul-
ties with this text. For as to your objection, that if indeed the Lord
commanded us to offer a sacrifice to Samael, what was the intention
[of the verse] “and that they may offer their sacrifices no more to the
goat-demons”? There is no real contradiction between the first text and
the second, for the first deals with [a rite] prescribed by the Creator,
blessed be He, on this particular day, and not at any other time. And
that is the [meaning of the] text, “and that they may offer their sacrifices
no more to the goat-demons....” Hence, there was no reason for you
to force yourself to say, in your own name, the explanation that was
stated by others (103a).
Offering sacrifices to the planets of wrath was thus an explicit divine
commandment. Franco held fast to his opinion that the ritual of
the he-goats on the Day of Atonement was indeed actual worship
of heavenly bodies, by no means a question of expiation by proxy.
Thus, the dispute only served to reinforce Franco’s views, clarifying
that this was no ritual of mere atonement but direct worship of an
evil planet.8
Franco’s outspoken views as to the importance of astral worship in
the ritual of the Day of Atonement stunned and embarrassed even his
admirers. Ezra Gatigno quotes the above explanation verbatim and,
after the praise, goes on to criticize it:
Thus far the words of Franco in his explanation of the matter of Azazel
according to Ibn Ezra’s view. And it is very plausible, and his words of
8 See Yitzhak Tzvi Langermann, “Some Astrological Themes in the Thought of
Abraham ibn Ezra,” in Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra: The Writings of a Twelfth-Century Poly-
math, ed. Isadore Twersky and Jay Michael Harris (Cambridge: Harvard University
Center for Jewish Studies, 1993), 40–42.
explanation are to my liking. However, when he states, “and according

to the importance of Saturn, Scripture frequently said of it ‘his Master’s
name,’ as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, ‘Metatron, whose name
is like his Master’s name’ (Sanhedrin 38b),” I believe that is wrong. For
this scapegoat is not associated with the Lord, blessed be He, in any
place. For even on the view of Rav Samuel, who said that the scape-
goat was also “for the Lord,” like the goat of the sin-offering, of which
Scripture says that it is for the Lord—Ibn Ezra said that God had no
need of this scapegoat, for it is not a sacrifice, not being slaughtered;
and if this be Franco’s view, how shall we associate it [the scapegoat]
with the Lord, blessed be He?!9
Evidently, Gatigno did not really understand Franco’s intent. Franco,
he believed, explained that the scapegoat was also marked “for the
Lord,” though indeed designed to neutralize the negative influence
of the planet. The astral purpose—the scapegoat—is exclusive; it
has nothing to do with the God of Israel, not even in an allegorical
sense.10 As a matter of fact, a careful examination of Franco’s com-
mentary will reveal that he was speaking not of the scapegoat but of
the goat that was earmarked from the start as an offering to the Lord.
There is no dichotomy between the designations of the two goats,
one “for the Lord” and the other “for Azazel.” As far as Franco is
concerned, the former is intended for the worship of Saturn,11 the
latter for the worship of Mars, the guardian angel of the wilderness.
In other words, Franco has obliterated the divine connection of the
offering, basing it exclusively on astral worship. Both planets, Saturn
and Mars, exert their harmful astral influence on the Day of Atone-
ment. Most probably, Gatigno did not read Franco’s clarifying response
to Altabib, and it is doubtful whether he even knew that Franco, in
9 Sod Ha-Shem li-Yre"av, Ms. München 15, 273b. Gatigno also criticized another
point in the commentary: “Moreover, what was said of Ibn Ezra’s statement, ‘When
you reach thirty-three you will understand it,’ saying that this was meant metaphori-
cally—that is nonsense, for Ibn Ezra would not speak metaphorically in this matter,
and he did not intend now at this point to speak metaphorically, for that is not the
proper place, for Ibn Ezra never took that approach.” Incidentally, this comment of
Franco is also quoted anonymously (“some say...”) by Samuel Ibn Zarza, Meqor Hayyim
(Mantua, 1550), 70d.
10 In hassagah 25, it is obvious that Altabib, too, disapproved of applying God’s
Name to Saturn.
11 Incidentally, Altabib attacked Franco on this very point in Hassagah 33. Franco
explained Aram’s words, “Their God is a God of mountains” (I Kings 20:23), ostensibly
referring to God, as actually referring to Saturn. It is interesting that here Gatigno quoted
Franco’s interpretation without any objections (Sod Ha-Shem li-Yre"av, fol. 282a).
174 chapter six
the expression “rite of the he-goats,” was actually referring to the

worship of a planet.12
Another commentator who was deeply influenced by Franco’s
exegesis, Shem Tov ibn Mayor, was also unaware of Franco’s atti-
tude to astral worship; or, if aware, he may have simply ignored it.
This is obvious from his harsh criticism of Ibn Ezra in his supercom-
mentary:
And I say that whoever states that they would interpret precepts of
divine worship in terms of any heavenly body is wrong and his view is
as nought and his faith is a false one, for no person worshiped a star
unless he believed in the doctrine of eternity [a parte ante of the universe].
For thus wrote R. Moses [Maimonides], that he who worships a star
believes that it is an eternal deity;13 accordingly, it follows from this that
the sphere in which the star is set, and which is its place, is also eternal,
and since the sphere is eternal, its center, that is, the Earth, is eternal,
for if the circle is eternal so is its center eternal. It also necessarily fol-
lows that the movement is also eternal, insofar as the sphere is eternal,
and the divine movement is the cause of the form of the elements and
what is constituted of them; if so, everything is eternal. Now truly see if
there is on earth any greater heresy. It is therefore proper for whoever
is descended from our Father Abraham, peace be upon him, that he
repudiate this negative view and refrain from sinning to the Lord such
a grievous sin.14
Yet, as noted, despite this forthright statement, Ibn Mayor had no
scruples about citing Franco’s comments and agreeing with his views,
whether in the theological realm15 or in astral magic. It is even more
amazing that Ibn Mayor actually cites Franco’s controversial commen-
tary on the scapegoat and even expands upon it.16 We may recall that
12 On the question of the he-goats in Franco’s circle, see also Schwartz, “Varieties
of Magic,” 31-35.
13 See “Epistle on Astrology,” in Maimonides, Epistles [Hebrew], ed. Yitzhak Shei-
lat, vol. 2 (Jerusalem, Ma#alyot: 1988), 483. The various theological implications of
Maimonides’ position on astrology have been discussed by Langermann and Kreisel.
See Yitzhak Tzvi Langermann, “Maimonides’ Repudiation of Astrology,” Maimonidean
Studies 2 (1991): 123-158; Hayyim Kreisel, “Maimonides’ Approach to Astrology”
[Hebrew], Proceedings of the Eleventh World Congress of Judaic Studies, Division 2, section
C (Jerusalem: World Union of Jewish Studies: 1994), 25-32.
14 Shem Tov ibn Mayor, Ha-Ma"or ha-Gadol, Ms. Oxford, Bodl. 228 (Poc. 207),
253a.
15 See, for instance, the natural explanation of the earth opening to swallow up
Korah and his followers, Ha-Ma"or ha-Gadol, 231b.

16 Ibid., 188b–189a. Parts of this text were quoted in Schwartz, “Varieties of
Magic,” 32-33.
Franco in that passage repeatedly used the expression “rite/worship

of Mars,” but Ibn Mayor quotes such passages without adverse com-
ment. Altabib’s attack indeed brought about a clarification of Franco’s
ideas concerning astral worship. Nevertheless, such commentators as
Shem Tov ibn Mayor were not deterred from studying the views of
the radical thinker.
The question of the scapegoat illustrates the controversy over the
motivation for the festivals in general. Franco, relying on Hermetic
traditions, consistently explained the festivals as designed to nullify
the harmful influence of celestial bodies. Gatigno, as clearly evident
from his praise, supported these ideas enthusiastically.17 Thus, Franco’s
objective was the legitimate absorption, explicit or otherwise, of astral
worship into Jewish ritual. This was the target of Altabib’s wrath.
Dietary Laws
The major bone of contention between Altabib and Franco was the
status of Saturn and its influence on the Jews and their religious life. As
noted in the context of the scapegoat and the festivals, Altabib vehe-
mently objects to Franco’s thesis that Saturn exerts a major influence on
the fate of the nation and on the explanation of the commandments.18
Similar objections come to light in connection with the dietary laws
and the laws of incestuous relationships. Against Franco’s consistent
magic-astral motivation, Altabib offered the rational reasons most
commonly encountered in medieval philosophical literature.
To explain the dietary laws, Franco asserts that the forbidden foods
are subject to the constant influence of Saturn. On various occasions,
he insists that the use of materials, places, or animals subject to Saturn’s
influence, for any purpose other than the worship of that planet, is
liable to have destructive results. The forbidden animals, he says,
belong to Saturn’s portion and should therefore not be eaten: “And
the reason for their prohibition is because they are of the portion of
Saturn, as the astrologers say. Just as the Egyptians used to do, for they
abhorred the consumption of sheep because they are under the sign
17 See, for instance, his supercommentary on Ibn Ezra, Ms. München, 278b.
18 Originally, the controversy centered on Ibn Ezra’s exegesis, but the polemic
concerning the role of Saturn and its effect on the Jewish people became a dominant
motif in the arguments between Altabib and Franco. See Ron Barkai, Science, Magic,
and Mythology in the Middle Ages [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Van Leer, 1987), 30-31.
19 Franco’s commentary on Ibn Ezra, fol. 77a.
176 chapter six
of Aries.”19 Strongly rejecting this idea, Altabib presents the classical

rational argument for the dietary laws, namely, that the forbidden
foods defile the body and consequently also the soul, in a hygienic
sense (hassagah 27).20 Altabib’s criticism once more compelled Franco
to clarify his views. Agreeing with Altabib’s rationalist explanation,
according to which harmful foods are forbidden for purely hygienic
reasons, he in fact added that the prohibition is entirely valid without
any need for an explicit divine command. He believed, however, that
even certain good, beneficial foods had been forbidden for the sole
reason that they were subject to Saturn’s influence. Franco held, for
example, that the consumption of pork is not at all harmful; on the
contrary, it is beneficial to human health. It has been forbidden for
one reason only: it is “of the portion of Saturn.” The comparison with
Egyptian worship also reveals Franco’s attitude to the dietary laws.
On this question as well, Gatigno is strongly critical of Franco.
Although Gatigno constantly relies on astral magic arguments in his
theological exegesis,21 in this particular connection he was firmly
opposed to Franco’s explanations. After quoting verbatim from
Franco’s commentary, Gatigno writes:
As to what Franco wrote of the swine and certain forbidden foods, that
the reason is their being of the portion of Saturn, he knows this reason
but I do not. For R. Moses Maimonides, of blessed memory, wrote
that although Galen wrote that it is the best of meats, it is good only
for athletes,22 for it is a heavy food. He also wrote another reason for
it, that the Torah forbade it as an animal producing filth (ippush), for
its nature is invariably to run about among refuse and dirt and always
to stir up filth with its nose, so that our Sages, of blessed memory, said
that the mouth of a pig may be likened to walking excrement (TB
Berakhot 25a).23
20 See Yitzhak Heinemann, The Reasons for the Commandments in the Tradition [Hebrew],
vol. 1 (Jerusalem: WZO, 1966), 133–134.

21 See Schwartz, Amulets, 80-92.
22 The Hebrew text of Ms. München has an error here, which I have emended
according to Ms. Oxford, Bodl. 231. Maimonides frequently discusses the merits of
athletics in his medical works. See, for instance, Maimonides, Regimen Sanitatis: Letters
on the Hygiene of the Body and of the Soul, trans. Moshe Ibn Tibbon, ed. Suessmann
Muntner (Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1957), 32–33.
23 Sod Ha-Shem li-Yre’av, Ms. München 15, 276b. For Maimonides on this question
see Guide of the Perplexed 3:48 [598]; Pirqei Moshe (Aphorisms of Moses), trans. Nathan
ha-Me’ati, ed. Sussman Muntner (Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1961, 230. See
also Yaakov Levinger, Maimonides as Philosopher and Codifier [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Bialik
Institute, 1990), 114. I have been unable to locate the first quotation (“although Galen
wrote...”) in any of Maimonides’ surviving works.
Apparently, then, Franco’s defensive magical-astral explanation of the

dietary laws could not compete with Maimonides’ rational explanation,
which based the prohibition on hygienic considerations. Both Altabib
and Gatigno opt for Maimonides’ argument against Franco’s view
that one should not eat animals subject to the influence of Saturn.
Samuel ibn Zarza, on the other hand, cites Franco’s comments ver-
batim in both of his books, as a legitimate commentary on Ibn Ezra’s
explanation of the dietary laws.24
The Core of the Debate
The issues on which Altabib and Franco crossed swords indicate that
the point at stake was not the essence of astral magic as a reality.
Altabib indeed disapproved of the considerable extent of astral-magic
interpretations in Franco’s supercommentary, and he was convinced
that they were by no means always necessary. After all, even Franco’s
supporters were sometimes dismayed by the intensity and bluntness of
his exegesis. In this respect, Altabib was no different from other think-
ers of his time who objected to massive astral-magic interpretations,
such as Judah b. Moses Halawa.25 But as is clear from the episode of
the scapegoat and others, Altabib was not among those who rejected
astral magic outright, like Judah, son of the great codifier Asher b.
Jehiel (the Rosh), and Menahem b. Zerah. What, then, was the real
bone of contention?
The difference between Altabib and Franco was rooted, first and
foremost, in the theological significance of astral magic. Franco was
not afraid to name the rituals explicitly: considerations of planetary
influence, worship of stars and planets, and the like. In his view, for
example, the precepts of the Torah had a direct bearing on the system
of links between human beings and the heavenly bodies, which he
viewed as a basically autonomous system. The ritual is aimed directly
at the star or planet, and as far as the Jews are concerned, the planet
involved was Saturn. Franco’s rather insincere protestations, “I have
24 Meqor Hayyim, 76a; Mikhlol Yofi, II, 110b. See Dov Schwartz, The Religious Philosophy of
Samuel ibn Zarza [Hebrew], vol. 1 (Ph.D. dissertation, Bar-Ilan University, 1989), 175.
25 Judah b. Moses Halawa, Imrei Shefer, ed. Hayyim Herschler (Jerusalem: Rav
Herschler Institute, 1993), 86.

178 chapter six
no part or heritage in Saturn or in the other stars” (98a), does not

obscure this position at all. Altabib, on the other hand, is bitterly
opposed to such definitions; God, he argues, is directly and palpably
involved in the system of links between man and the astral bodies,
rendering active assistance to man in resisting the astral influences.
Altabib refused to recognize the worship of heavenly bodies as inde-
pendent entities, even in the guise of a definite divine command in
some specific connection. To the same degree, he rejected the idea
that the Jewish people were subject to constant astral influence from
Saturn—the idea underlying Franco’s proposal of a permanent ritual
to counter that influence.
The positions may therefore be summarized as follows. Altabib was
utterly opposed to the creation of a comprehensive astral-magic theol-
ogy that considered the entire system of divine precepts as founded on
astral influence. Although some ritual acts (particularly those associ-
ated with the festivals) may be explained on the basis of astral magic,
this explanation should not be expanded to produce an autonomous
astral-magic system. Franco’s position, by contrast, provided a solid
basis for the creation of an astral-magic theology, namely, an explana-
tion of all the precepts of the Torah based on bringing down astral
influence or ensuring protection against such influence, with no fear
of “idolatry,” which now had, as it were, divine sanction.
In the course of the controversy over astral magic in fourteenth-
century Spain, three distinct positions took shape:
1. Astral magic is useful; it in fact forms the basis for all the precepts
of the Torah, as an independent, self-sufficient system (Franco,
Solomon Alconstantin, and so forth).
2. Astral magic is real, but does not exclusively explain the theology
of the Torah. Reliance on astral magic should be limited in two
respects: it should not be used massively for exegetical purposes,
and it should not be presented as an autonomous discipline, per-
mitted by the Torah and even underpinning it (Altabib).
3. Astral magic is to be rejected outright as a theological element in
Judaism (Judah b. Asher, and so forth).
Interspersed among these three basic positions are various intermediate
positions, like those of Gatigno and Ibn Mayor. Thus, the Altabib-
Franco dispute is a useful aid to the precise mapping of philosophical
positions during the fourteenth century, and furthers our understand-
ing of contemporary intellectual and cultural life.
jewish rationalism in late medieval byzantium 179
CHAPTER SEVEN
JEWISH RATIONALISM IN LATE MEDIEVAL

BYZANTIUM
The study of magic and astrology in Byzantium is still a new area of

scholarship, requiring an introduction as to the circumstances of its
development in the context of Jewish rationalism. In the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries, the Byzantine Empire straddled the crossroads
between the Greco-Latin and Muslim worlds. The Byzantine-Eastern
culture of the time cut across geographical and political boundaries:
Bulgaria, Crete, Turkey, the Crimean Peninsula, and so on. Jewish
thought in late medieval Byzantium also reflects this geographical-
cultural divide, in both positive and negative senses. On the one hand,
a school of thought emerges with its own unique characteristics and
subject matter, distinct in some respects from contemporary Span-
ish and Provençal philosophy, as we shall see. On the other hand,
Jewish rationalists in Byzantium were remote from the main centers
of polemics pro and con rationalism, which were mainly in the far-
off west—Spain and Provence. For instance, a Byzantine sage of the
fourteenth century vented his wrath on both the “rabbis and talmud-
ists” who haughtily devoted all their efforts to studying the Talmud,
and on the rationalists who spent all their time doing philosophy to
the neglect of the practical commandments. He mentions, however,
that these people are utterly remote from him, being located “at the
ends of the earth.”1 The same scholar describes a state of absolute
ignorance around him, but it is not clear whether he was document-
ing an existing condition or affecting the elitist language so common
among medieval scholars and philosophers. In any event, there was
clearly a considerable distance between fourteenth and fifteenth cen-
turies Byzantine rationalist thought and the dynamic and extensive
rationalist activity in the west.
The distance from the centers of Spanish-Provençal culture and
1 Yoreh De#ah by “Avishai,” Ms. Oxford Bodl. 267 (Opp. 212), 3b. On the views of
“Avishai” see Dov Schwartz, “R. Kalonymus’ Mesharet Moshe” [Hebrew], Qovets al-Yad
14 (1998): 343-347. No biographical information is so far available on this scholar.
180 chapter seven
the dearth of philosophical books and sources had their impact on

Byzantine-Jewish thought, which was frequently detached, lacking
philosophical precision and real scientific depth. For example, transla-
tions of Muslim philosophical works were almost unknown among the
Jews. At most, we find quotations from Abu-Nasar al-Farabi alongside
references to the names of classical Greek philosophers, all purport-
ing to testify to the authors’ knowledge. These claims were baseless,
however, since the works of these philosophers were simply unavailable
to them. Another expression of the paucity of ideas is the sparsity of
Byzantine halakhic works at this time. This situation changes in the
fifteenth century, at least in the philosophical realm. Several thinkers
relied on philosophical sources and, in addition, Byzantine kabbalists
expressed particular appreciation for the works of Abraham Abulafia,
some of which were known to Byzantine mystics.
At the same time, the Byzantine-cultural style in these waning years
of the Byzantine Empire left a decisive imprint on Jewish creativity.
A fairly dominant feature of this culture was a tendency to exaggera-
tion and externalization. The iconoclastic controversy that had flared
up in the early Middle Ages ended in a victory for the veneration
of icons (the councils of 787 and 843), and representations of saints
became a central motif in Byzantine visual art and literature. Byzantine
architecture created high-domed churches with interior and exterior
decoration. Byzantine apocryphal literature produced rhetorical expres-
sions in a pompous, inflated style. Even in antiquity, Byzantine poetry
had been characterized by convoluted rhyming schemes. At the same
time, Byzantines earned no fame as scholars and bearers of ancient
philosophical traditions.2 This cultural climate directly and indirectly
affected rational Jewish creativity in the late Middle Ages. Rational
works were frequently excessively verbose and fraught with exaggera-
tion. Their main stylistic characteristics were repetitiveness, overlong
and laboriously detailed introductions, and a compulsive display of
trivial knowledge.
No exhaustive study of Jewish rationalist thought in Byzantium is
2 See Andre Grabar, Christian Iconography: A Study of its Origins (Princeton, N. J.:
Princeton University Press, 1969). There is a vast literature on Byzantine art. See also
Ezra Fleischer, “Early Hebrew Liturgical Poetry in its Cultural Setting (Compara-
tive Experiments)” [Hebrew], in Moises Starosta Memorial Lectures, ed. Joseph Geiger
(Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1993), 82-90; M. C. Lyons, ed., The Arabic Version of
Themistius’ “‘De Anima”(Oxford: Cassirer, 1973), xiii.
so far available, other than a few comments and monographic surveys

dedicated to several figures. A preliminary survey of Jewish creativ-
ity in this period (up to the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans
in 1453) appears in Steven Bowman’s book, and in a few scattered,
though important, studies by Joseph Hacker, Shalom Rosenberg, and
Israel Ta-Shma.3 This survey, however, is not sufficient to provide
an adequate picture of the foundations of Byzantine Jewish rational-
ism prior to the expulsion from Spain. Access to fourteenth century
philosophical material is extremely limited. Scarcely any texts remain,
although they are rather unique, at least in their attempt to imitate
the philosophical writings of Spanish and Provençal rationalists. The
situation is slightly better, though not dramatically so, concerning the
first half of the fifteenth century. Given the small number of thinkers,
clear-cut conclusions about such a relatively large geographical area
will be hard to draw. This chapter, then, offers only a preliminary
outline of rationalist creativity in Byzantium in the late Middle Ages.
I shall then go on to discuss magic-astral approaches that emerged in
these areas at the time.
Wandering
Characteristically, Spanish and Provençal Jewish rationalists in the

late Middle Ages traveled far afield to seek knowledge from various
scholars.4 It was only natural that Byzantine-Jewish rationalists, con-
scious of their remoteness from the centers of rationalism and eager
to acquire philosophical knowledge, wandered to the west, for Spain
and Provence were home to groups of rationalists busily engaged in
studying Averroes’ commentaries on Aristotle.5 Some also traveled
eastward (and these wanderings are even more richly documented
3 See Steven B. Bowman, The Jews in Byzantium (1204–1453) (Alabama: University

of Alabama Press, 1985), 129-170; Joseph Hacker, Jewish Society in Salonica and Envi-
rons in the 15th and 16th centuries: A Chapter in the History of Jewish Society in the Ottoman
Empire and its Relations with the Authorities [Hebrew] (Ph. D. Dissertation: The Hebrew
University, 1979). Israel Ta-Shma’s studies are cited below.
4 See, for instance, Joseph Shatzmiller, “Minor Epistle of Apology of Rabbi Kal-
onymus b. Kalonymus” [Hebrew], Sefunot 10 (1966): 9-52; Dov Schwartz, “Between

Rationalism and Conservatism” [Hebrew], Da#at 32–33 (1994): 181-182.
5 See, for instance, L V. Berman, “A Manuscript Entitled Shoshan Limudim and
the Group of Me#aynim in Provence” [Hebrew], Kiryat Sefer 53 (1978): 368-372.

182 chapter seven
than those westward), though mostly for different motives. Those

travelling to the Land of Israel, for instance, sought to end their days
there and be buried in the Holy Land or were driven by economic
reasons, whereas rationalists traveling westward were usually seeking
knowledge and education.
Different scholars disagree with Yitzhak Baer’s description of the
history of the Jews in Spain, which places almost exclusive emphasis
on philosophical rationalism as a social and historical driving force,
notwithstanding the general recognition of the important position of
rationalist thought in medieval Spanish-Jewish culture. 6 Most surviv-
ing manuscripts from the period are indeed concerned with various
philosophical disciplines (logic, physics, astronomy, metaphysics, and
so forth). This culture presumably fascinated the Byzantine intellectual.
Elnathan b. Moses Kalkish complained bitterly about the peripatetic
phenomenon. This scholar, who divided his time between Trabzon and
Constantinople, was a kabbalist with a distinctly rationalist orientation.
His extensive work Even Sappir, of which there were various editions
(a short and a long version, with a lapse of sixty years in between),
contains kabbalistic, rationalistic, and grammatical material. Kalkish
writes, with a note of bitterness:
He whose fear of sin does not take precedence over his wisdom, such as
Aristotle, Plato and his company, his wisdom does not endure,7 for all
these are an inheritance, but sometimes it is not so, for it is an inheri-
tance acquired hurriedly by persons who wander8 from place to place
and go to a far-off land to study Torah and to learn lofty sciences, to
flee to Tarshish9 to ascend on high and seek honor… Moreover, they
pursue the science of divinity in the confines of their own hearts, to look
and observe what their forebears had not seen, for they knew not the
Lord10 and did not seek the God of Israel11… They fly like the flying
6 Gerson D. Cohen, ed., A Critical Edition with a Translation and Notes of the Book
of Tradition (Sefer ha-Qabbalah) by Abraham ibn Daud (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication

Society, 1967), 298-299; idem, Studies in the Variety of Rabbinic Cultures (Philadelphia:
Jewish Publication Society, 1991), 292; Israel Ta-Shma, “Halakhah, Kabbalah, and
Philosophy in Christian Spain” [Hebrew], Annual of Jewish Law 18-19 (1992-1994):
479-495.
7 Based on M. Avot 3:9; The F athers According to Rabbi Nathan, trans. Judah Goldin
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955), ch. 22, 99-100.

8 The Hebrew verb used here (shatim) is used in Job 1:7 of the adversary.
9 See Jonah 1:3; 4:2.
10 See Jeremiah 9:2.
11 See, e.g., Isaiah 9:12; 31:1; Jeremiah 10:21, and others.
eagle, to pursue and acquire divine science without divine help, and they
find no way and no entrance in this hurried ascent, to achieve which
they are running and flying and laboring; but they remain wrathful
because of its being hurried and borrowed, therefore not blessed, and
they cannot acquire the abundance of blessing poured down from the
supernal pool.12
Kalkish compares those who wander in search of Torah, wisdom,
and metaphysics (“the science of divinity”) to the seekers after the
gold of Tarshish.13 While they imagine the west or even Italy as a
mine full of treasure, they are fleeing from the real abode of God’s
word, that is, Byzantium. Kalkish denounces those who go “to a far-
off land,” implicitly associating their peregrinations to the lack of
“divine help.” What scholars could have been the target or model
of Kalkish’s attack?
One Byzantine scholar who wandered from Greece to Majorca was
Judah Moskoni, a figure who has attracted the attention of various
scholars, not least among them Steinschneider. Even ha-Ezer, his super-
commentary on Ibn Ezra’s Commentary on the Torah, includes many
lengthy passages replete with scientific or philosophical traditions and
terms, partly evidence of his desire to internalize Spanish rationalist
12 Even Sappir, Ms. Paris 727, 91a. This work was written in 1367. An earlier
version, in Ms. Vatican 284, was published by Raphael Cohen in 1998 (on Kalkish’s
time and location see Ephraim Kupfer, “Identification of Manuscripts in the Institute
of Microfilms of Hebrew Manuscripts,” Fifth World Congress of Jewish Studies [1969],
137-138, and in Cohen’s introduction, ibid., i–ii). Kalkish has already been discussed
in several studies by Israel Ta-Shma and Moshe Idel. See, for instance, Israel M. Ta-
Shma, “Rabbi Isaiah di Trani the Elder and His Connections with Byzantium and
Palestine” [Hebrew], Shalem 4 (1984): 411-416; Moshe Idel, The Mystical Experience in
Abraham Abulafia (albany Jerusalem: Magnes, 1988), 77, and in the index, s.v. Kalk-
ish. See also Paul B. Fenton, “Arugat ha-Bosem in the Writings of the Early Kabbalists
of the Spanish School,” in Studies in Medieval Jewish History and Literature, vol. 3, ed.
Isadore Twersky and Jay M. Harris (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,
2000), 66-68. The end of the passage quoted here is rich in allusions. The expression
“supernal pool” [berekhah elyonah] as a designation for the source of abundance prob-
ably reflects the sefirah of wisdom or intelligence. See Hayyim Z. Dimitrovsky, “The
Supernal Pool” [Hebrew], in Saul Lieberman Memorial Volume, ed. Shamma Friedmann
(New York and Jerusalem: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1993),
277-290. The eagle is one of the beasts in the Merkavah, and flying is a characteristic
of the Separate Intelligences (see, for instance, Guide of the Perplexed 1:43).
13 See, for instance, 1 Kings 10:22; 2 Chronicles 9:21. The expression is probably
intentionally ambiguous: the wanderers are ostensibly looking for Tarshish, which
was one of the stones in the High Priest’s breastplate, but they are actually “fleeing”
like Jonah.
184 chapter seven
culture. Moskoni reports that he purchased many works to complete

his education.14 He was indeed severely criticized by Menahem b.
Moshe Tamar, who was active in Salonica in the second half of the
fifteenth century. He was a grandson to Zekharia Cohen Tsedek and
a disciple of Shabbetai b. Malkiel Hacohen, whose works testify to a
knowledge of logic and the sciences and an intense preoccupation with
the works of Ibn Ezra. On several occasions, Menahem cites glosses
by Shabbetai Hacohen on Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Torah.
Menahem Tamar, who also wrote a supercommentary on Ibn Ezra,
was familiar with Moskoni’s supercommentary. In the introduction to
his own work, he writes:
And many scholars in Israel rose up and interpreted his [Ibn Ezra’s]
words, each according to his wisdom, although I have seen only two or
three of them in brief. And now, as I write, I have before me only one,
and that is R. Leon’s who is known as Moskoni, who in many places has
stumbled, as I shall prove in the proper place. In most cases, he follows
the words of the author [Ibn Ezra], except in his extreme verbosity.15
Tamar’s disapproval of Moskoni’s verbosity is surprising, as he himself
wrote a rambling, wordy supercommentary, devoted mostly to linguistic
and grammatical questions. Moskoni, who claimed to be descended
from a dynasty of Byzantine scholars adept in Ibn Ezra’s secrets,
frequently digressed in his supercommentary to offer sharp criticisms,
such as “but this too is one of R. Moskoni’s incorrect explanations”;
“R. Judah Moskoni discussed this at great length, dropped into hell,
and delved into deep waters without bringing up anything.”16
14 Based on his own testimony in the introduction to The Book of Josippon, published
in Otsar Tov (1867–1868), 20, l. 6. On Judah Moskoni see Moritz Steinschneider,
Gesammelte Schriften, ed. Heinrich Malter and Alexander Marx (Berlin: M. Poppelauer,
1925), 536-570; Uriel Simon, “Interpreting the Interpreter: Supercommentaries on
Ibn Ezra’s Commentaries from 1275 to 1400” [Hebrew], in The Bible in the Light of
its Interpreters, ed. Sarah Japhet (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1994), 373-396; Schwartz, Astral
Magic, 205-213. Excerpts from his commentaries appear in an appendix, 293-350.
15 Ms. Leiden, Warner 29, 1b. The end the quotation is a critique of Moskoni’s
excessive verbosity. On Menahem Tamar, see Salomon A. Rosanes, History of the Jews
in Turkey [Hebrew], vol. 1 (Tel Aviv: n. p., 1930), 33. Tamar was related to the Kalk-
ish family, and he quotes “our teacher Elisha Kalkish, our kin, of blessed memory”
(Ms. Leiden, Warner 29, 63a). In ibid., 260b, Menahem Tamar cites “my master and
forebear, my mother’s father, our teacher, R. Zekharia Cohen Tsedek. Another bitter
controversy over Ibn Ezra’s commentary erupted between Shabtai Malkiel Hacohen
and Mordecai Comtino. See Rosanes, History of the Jews in Turkey, 31-32.
16 Ibid., 4a.
Moskoni was not the only traveler to western lands. Among other
wandering rationalists from Byzantium is Shemariah b. Elijah Ikriti,
philosopher and biblical and talmudic commentator from Negroponte,
active mainly in the first half of the fourteenth century, who probably
wandered to Italy and Spain. Moskoni is known to have studied under
Shemariah. Abraham b. Judah Leon of Candia, author of the philo-
sophical work Arba#ah Turim, also went to Spain (after 1375), joining
the circle of Hasdai Crescas in the last quarter of the century.17 Other
peripatetic scholars include Shabbetai Hacohen [Balbo?], a devoted
rationalist active in the second half of the fourteenth century, who
went east in search of wisdom.18 In any event, Shemariah Ikriti, Abra-
ham b. Judah, and Judah Moskoni are surely models of philosophers
who wandered from Byzantium to the homelands of Spanish culture.
Kalkish’s critique, then, written around the time these scholars were
active, was probably expressive of concern and protest at this westward
drift of young scholars. These wanderings in search of wisdom are
added to the general “exile” forced upon many Jews due to historical
events, such as the fall of Constantinople.
Receptiveness and Moderation
The controversy over philosophy in Spain and Provence produced

two types of traditionalists. One type denied that rationalism had
any authority and sought to undermine its very foundations, includ-
ing the philosophical authority of Maimonides. Thinkers of this type
were particularly in evidence during the disputes of the 1230s. The
second type recognized the achievements of rationalism and vener-
ated Maimonides, but avoided the more extreme manifestations of
radical philosophy. Such thinkers were particularly prominent toward
the end of the thirteenth century.19 Traditionalists of the second
type often offered a combination of philosophy and Kabbalah, or at
least expressed their regard for mystical lore. Most evident among
Byzantine-Jewish thinkers were representatives of the second type. A
17 See Shalom Rosenberg, “The Arba#ah Turim of Rabbi Abraham bar Judah,
Disciple of Don Hasdai Crescas” [Hebrew], Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 3 (1984):
525–526.
18 See Shalom Rosenberg, “A Philosophical Meeting in Jerusalem at the End of
the Fourteenth Century” [Hebrew], Shalem 4 (1984): 417-427.

19 See Schwartz, ““R. Kalonymus’ Mesharet Moshe,” 311-325.
186 chapter seven
rationalist like Shemariah Ikriti presented moderate philosophical posi-

tions, such as a comprehensive defense of the concept of creation.20
Judah b. Shemariah, who came from Ashkenaz to Greece, fiercely
denounced “the accursed philosophers” who taught the world was
eternal.21 It is characteristic that a rationalist critic of kabbalistic
teachings, Moses Ashkenazi, appeared in the wake of the migration
from Central European lands to Byzantium. A typical Byzantine
rationalist ,Michael Balbo, who engaged in a vigorous polemic with
Moses Ashkenazi in 1466, combined his rationalism with a vigorous
defense of Kabbalah.22 Balbo was an influential figure in Candia, widely
renowned as a thinker and a philosopher. Ephraim Kupfer pointed out
that Balbo represented an indigenous Byzantine group of rationalists,
against whom Moses Ashkenazi tried to organize scholarly circles in
Candia.23 The impression, then, is that Balbo advocated a moderate
Byzantine rationalism, resisting external influence. Byzantine ratio-
20 See Colette Sirat, “A Letter on the Creation by Shemarya ben Eliah Ikriti”
[Hebrew], Eshel Beer Sheva 2 (1980): 199-227; Aaron Ahrend, “A Philosophical Com-
mentary on the Kaddish by R. Shemariah b. Elia Ikriti” [Hebrew], Da#at 43 (1999):
43-51; idem, “A Commentary on the Scroll of Esther by R. Shemariah b. Elijah Ikriti”
[Hebrew], in Studies in Bible and Education Presented to Prof. Moshe Arend, ed. Dov Rapel
(Jerusalem: Touro College, 1996), 33–52; idem, “On Byzantine Aggadic Exegesis:
The Introduction and Conclusion of the Book Amaziyahu by R. Shemarya b. Eliah
Ikriti” [Hebrew], Pe#amim 91 (2002): 169-175.
21 “Let the accursed philosophers be shamed for saying that the world had existed
together with the Lord, may He be exalted, as a rider on his horse, rather than one
preceding the other,” in Leah Naomi Goldfeld, “Commentary on the Torah by Judah
b. Shemariah, in a Genizah Manuscript” [Hebrew], Qovets al-Yad 10 (1982): 147,
ll.12–14. Judah even took exception to Maimonides, whom he accused of inclining
“toward the words of the philosophers who believe in the eternity [of the universe]”
(ibid., l. 7). The only surviving remnants of Judah’s works are a few Genizah frag-
ments, and we know nothing of his life. There is no connection between him and
the Shemariah Ikriti noted above.
22 See Ephraim Gottlieb, Studies in Kabbalah Literature [Hebrew] (Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv
University, 1976), 370-396; Aviezer Ravitzky, Al Da#at ha-Makom: Studies in the History
of Jewish Philosophy [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Keter, 1991), 182-211. On Balbo’s literary
activity, see also Joseph Hacker, “The Ottoman System of Sürgün and its Influence
on the Jewish Society in the Ottoman Empire in the Fifteenth-Seventeenth Centuries”
[Hebrew], Zion 55 (1990): 45-48. The combination of Halakhah and Kabbalah in
the rationalism of Greek lands was pointed out at length by Israel Ta-Shma, “On
Greek-Byzantine Rabbinic Literature of the Fourteenth Century” [Hebrew], Tarbiz
62 (1993): 102; idem, Ha-Nigle she-ba-Nistar: The Halakhic Residue in the Zohar [Hebrew]
(Tel Aviv-Hakibbutz Hameuhad, 1995), 78.
23 Ephraim Kupfer, “Concerning the Cultural Image of Ashkenazi Jewry and
Its Sages in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries” [Hebrew], Tarbiz 42 (1972-73):
126.
nalists, while fiercely challenging the authority of Plato and Aristotle,

would sometimes turn out to be faithful adherents of Maimonides.
Some Byzantine thinkers expressed strong reservations about philo-
sophical authority, while frequently making reference to philosophical
sources in their own works. These characteristics epitomize a specific
type of “average” Byzantine rationalist represented by Kalkish, who
found a connection between original sin and philosophy:
We learn this from Adam, when he ate of the tree of knowledge and
was corrupted by overeating of this desirable food, as Scripture states,
“and they perceived that they were naked” (Genesis 3:7). Thereupon
the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to them, because they
were corrupted, and therefore, “they sewed together fig leaves” (ibid.).
But Aristotle, Plato, Galen, Abu-Bakr al-Saigh,24 Anesgoris,25 Ibn Aflah,
Magesti26 and the other Greek philosophers all wore fig leaves and their
words cannot be trusted for they are void, their words are vain; therefore
“hold fast to discipline, do not let go” (Proverbs 4:13).27
This passage is an example of Kalkish’s heated attacks on classical
and Muslim philosophers. He regularly referred to Aristotle by vari-
ous derogatory names.28 He clearly expressed his opinion that “in the
worship of God, may He be exalted, there is no logic, nor circum-
spection, nor cleverness.”29 Nevertheless, judging from his quotations,
his philosophical library was quite rich. He had particular regard for
Maimonides, “man of God” and “chief shepherd” [abir ha-ro#im].30
He considered Maimonides, as philosopher, a bastion of defense against
the lethal influence of radical philosophy. Moreover, when Kalkish
wanted to explain the dangers inherent in unrestrained philosophi-
cal inquiry, he cited no less than Aristotle’s Metaphysica (“a root from
the fruit of wisdom”) and Maimonides’ The Guide of the Perplexed.31
He in fact encouraged scholars to study Maimonides’ work carefully,
24 Referring to Ibn Bajja.

25 Probably Anaxagoras.
26 Presumably Ptolemy, author of Almagest, as he is mentioned after the astrono-
mer Ibn Aflah.

27 Even Sappir, Ms. Paris 727, 41b.
28 For example, ha-mahavil [maker of hot air], Even Sappir 38a, or “the well-known
fickle one” (ibid., 39b), and others.

29 Ibid., 24a.
30 Ibid., 45a.
31 He referred to Maimonides’ works as “a barrier against calamity and a shield
and armor for educated people, to save them from the pit of commotion and raise
them from the morass, that is, Aristotle and Plato” (Even Sappir, 25b).
188 chapter seven
reading it in an esoteric but balanced, cautious spirit:

You must know, O scholars of Israel, my teachers and brethren and
masters, that many people have been perplexed by the book of our
teacher [Maimonides], either because of their laziness and the elevation
of their spirit or because of the weakness of their mind, since they did
not understand his precious hidden words. In general, most of them
have not plumbed the depths of his scattered secrets, comparing his
chapters with one another and examining his seemingly contradictory
statements. For our teacher and master scattered his dew and fresh
showers in his famous chapters, for the benefit of those who safeguard
the sacred lore.32
Kalkish conveyed an appreciation for Maimonides as a philosopher
that was widespread among moderate Byzantine scholars. Elsewhere,
this zealous thinker wrote:
The guardian of Israel keeps His promise to his elected holy nation,
which is His sheep and His flock, / and He brought them out of narrow
confines to the open spaces, lest His Torah be forgotten among His
seed, / and in the midst of our exile restored splendor and integrity to
the man of God, our master, Moses son of R. Maimon, may he rest in
peace, chief among the shepherds, to be a treasure among all people
on earth and stand before Him.33
Though zealous, then, Kalkish was clearly no anti-rationalist. In this
context, note that both talmudic scholars and uneducated persons were
targets for fierce social criticism in Sefer ha-Kanah and Sefer ha-Peli’ah,
but nowhere in these works have I found criticism of philosophers in
general or Jewish rationalists in particular.34
Let us return now to expressions of admiration for figures viewed in
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries as typical rationalists. Ibn Ezra
also earned a great deal of respect in Byzantium, though his commenta-
tors and readers were aware of his radical allusions. Byzantine circles
must have been influenced by reports of the admiration in which Ibn
Ezra was held by Spanish thinkers. Kalkish observed that the teachings
32 Even Sappir, 3a.

33 Ibid., 45a.
34 On the social criticism in these works, see Michal Kushnir-Oron, The Peli’ah
and the Kanah: Their Kabbalistic Elements, Their Religious-Social Position, and Their Literary
Formulation [Hebrew] (Ph. D. diss., Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1980), 321–332.
In contrast to Even Sappir, these works contain no philosophical discussions, and even
typically philosophical terms are extremely rare. See, e.g., Sefer ha-Kanah (Cracow,
1894), 53b (“intelligent soul” in a kabbalistic context).
of this enigmatic exegete also required caution and esoteric study. “I

shall reveal the secrets of the statements of Ibn Ezra as I have under-
stood them and scatter them in my introductions wherever necessary,
according to their content and my own discretion.”35
The Torah commentaries of Dosa and Meyuhas b. Elijah (first half
of the fourteenth century) also agreed with Ibn Ezra’s views, though
Meyuhas did not quote him directly.36 Ephraim ben Gershon decries
in his homilies those who enunciate the actual spelling of the divine
name in a poem he ascribed to Ibn Ezra, which had apparently entered
the prayer ritual. Ephraim, who wandered around various cities and
settled in Istanbul in 1469, concludes:
Hence, with your permission, I warn you and all students of Torah that
this poem of R. Abraham should no longer be recited. Should you ask
whether he wrote it for nothing, I do not say so. He was indeed a great
sage, as we are told by R. Moses ben Maimon in the will he left his son,
R. Abraham, telling him: “Do not bother your mind with anything but
our own writings and that of R. Abraham Ibn Ezra, because he was as
Abraham our father, of blessed memory.” In his [Ibn Ezra’s] wisdom,
he wrote the poem to show his powers, because his interests were many,
but not in order to let fools amuse themselves with His holy names and
enunciate the letters.37
35 Even Sappir, 16a. On the admiration for Ibn Ezra, see Israel Zinberg, A History
of Jewish Literature, vol. 5 (Cleveland : Press of Case Western Reserve University, 1974)
ch. 1; Bowman, The Jews in Byzantium, 134. On Ibn Ezra as viewed in fourteenth
century Spain, see Dov Schwartz, The Philosophy of a Fourteenth-Century Jewish Neoplatonic
Circle [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Bialik Institute 1996).
36 See Michael Katz’s introduction to Meyuhas’ commentary on Deuteronomy
(Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1968), 11; Shlomo Spitzer, “Information about
Rabbi Dosa the Greek from His Work on the Torah” [Hebrew], in Meir Benayahu,
ed., Studies in Memory of the Rishon le-Zion R. Yitzhak Nissim, vol. 4, Lurianic Kabbalah
and Documents [Hebrew] (Jerusalem, 1985), 183. Meyuhas’ dates were determined by
Ta-Shma, “On Greek-Byzantine Rabbinic Literature,” 112. Meyuhas’ commentary
does not stray from the plain meaning of the text and from halakhic matters (ibid.,
113). The philosophical references all relate to elementary midrashic ideas, such as
the importance and merits of the Land of Israel.
37 Ephraim b. Gershon, Homilies, London Ms., British Museum 379, 288b-289a.
Elsewhere, Ephraim cites an allegorical-rationalist exegesis from the will erroneously

ascribed to Maimonides, and concludes: “All this, the teacher explained in the will he
left at his death to R. Abraham, his son, and the scholar will peruse this and find it,
because he, blessed be his memory, commented there on matters of vast import, and
opened the eyes of the blind to look at the Holy Sanctuary” (ibid., 117b). Ephraim
called himself “the homilist physician” (ibid., 308a, and similarly in 75a). On Ben
Gershon, see Ta-Shma, Ha-Nigle she-Banistar, 80-81; Hacker, “The Ottoman System
of Sürgün,” 41-45, 49-50.
190 chapter seven
Ephraim relied on the will ascribed to Maimonides to praise Ibn Ezra,

and his endorsement of the will conveys his attempt to integrate the
approaches of both sages. According to Ephraim, Ibn Ezra wrote
the poem for the perfect sages, and the multitude transgressed by
reciting it.
The enormous admiration for Maimonides requires no evidence.
Mordechai Comtino (1402–1482) defended Maimonides’ views of
sacrifices and prophecy against Nahmanides’ critique.38 Comtino
was something of an exception in Byzantine thought. His writing is
often cautious and spare, and he wrote scientific works in such fields as
logic, astronomy, and so forth. He complained of Nahmanides’ sharp
language, which he considered inappropriate in regard to such great
figures as Abraham ibn Ezra and Maimonides. Nevertheless, Comtino’s
critical attitude toward Ibn Ezra aroused the wrath of Shabbetai b.
Malkiel Hacohen, who criticized him on several points. Balbo also
expressed admiration for Maimonides, “for there is none so discerning
and wise,” although he defended kabbalistic teachings far removed
from the Maimonidean spirit.39 Finally, note also the Karaite Elijah
Bashyazi (c. 1420-1490), exiled from Adrianople after the Ottoman
occupation, who also venerated Maimonides and Ibn Ezra.40
While Ibn Ezra and Maimonides were indeed prominent objects
of admiration for both fanatics and moderates, they were not the
only ones. Kalkish expressed his admiration for another rationalist
who played an important role in the controversy on philosophy in
Spain and Provence during the first half of the thirteenth century:
Jacob Anatoli of the Tibbon family. According to Kalkish, Anatoli’s
homiletical work Sefer Malmad ha-Talmidim was intended “to instruct
the people of the Lord, the Jews, to teach them proper ways and
perfection and proper conduct, as does any author, and to interpret
the laws of the incomparable Torah and its institutions, a lofty and
38 Mordechai Comtino, Perush al ha-Torah, Ms. Paris 265, 13a, 25b–26a, and so
forth. On Comtino see Jean-Christophe Attias, Le commentaire biblique: Mordekhai Komtino

ou l’hermeneutique du dialogue (Paris: Cerf, 1991).
39 Ravitzky, Al Da#at ha-Makom, 192.
40 See Daniel J. Lasker, “Maimonides’ Influence on the Philosophy of Elijah
Bashyazi the Karaite” [Hebrew], Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 3 (1984): 405-425.
On Bashyazi see Zvi Ankori, “Elijah Bashyachi: An Inquiry into His Traditions
concerning the Beginnings of Karaism in Byzantium” [Hebrew], Tarbiz 25 (1956):
44-65, 183-201, and particularly 196-198.
hidden explanation.”41 Comtino referred favorably to such rationalists

as Moses Narboni. Menahem Tamar praised Moses Narboni for his
profound understanding of the thought of Ibn Ezra, also noting that
Comtino had quoted from Narboni’s commentary to The Guide of the
Perplexed 2:30.42 While Narboni wrote a commentary on Shi#ur Qomah,
his philosophical views and his exegesis of The Guide of the Perplexed in
relation to the Creation and certain other issues were undoubtedly
quite radical.
Kalkish and Balbo thus represent the “average” Byzantine rational-
ist. While both were apprehensive of excessive “philosophizing,” they
both tried their hand at massive philosophical writing (Kalkish also
wrote on Kabbalah). Their philosophical caution did not prevent them
being receptive to ideas from rationalist sources. This rationalist model
also aptly describes Judah b. Shemariah, who combined scientific and
philosophical scholarship with criticism of radical ideas.43 Rationalists
who were not attracted to Kabbalah generally embraced a typical
(simplistic) Maimonidean model and went no further. Here is a brief
illustration, from Comtino’s discussion of the purpose of the Torah:
Know that the purpose of the giving of the Torah was to endow us with
eternal life… And I will explain through a true example: We know that
the end for which man was created is to remain eternal so that he may not
be lost, but this cannot happen without reaching communion with one’s
Creator, until one becomes eternal in His eternity, and that is impossible
unless one apprehends the intelligibles, and first—becomes pure in the
moral virtues… Given that the true purpose is incomprehensible, since
the immortality of the soul and how it is immortal cannot be known
without much study, one is presented with another purpose and told:
If you adopt a certain virtue as men usually do, and one is then offered
the purpose of honor among men. The same is true of the study of the
sciences, insofar as one does not know their benefit before one studies
them, and therefore one will not strive to study them because of the
effort involved—therefore one is offered a different purpose.44
41 Even Sappir, Ms. Paris 727, 19b. Kalkish quoted from the introduction to
Anatoli’s book (Lyck, 1866), 2.
42 On references to Moses Narboni in Comtino’s works, see Attias, Le commentaire
biblique Mordekhai Komtino, 36. Menahem Tamar’s comments appear in his supercom-
mentary on Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Torah, Ms. Leiden, Warner 29, 14b, in
connection with a particularly enigmatic passage in Ibn Ezra’s commentary on Genesis
3:24. Tamar refers to Comtino’s commentary on Ibn Ezra’s Yesod Mora.
43 Ta-Shma, “On Greek-Byzantine Rabbinic Literature,” 110; and see above,
n. 21.
44 Comtino, Torah commentary, Ms. Paris 265, 78b.
192 chapter seven
This passage is based mainly on Maimonides’ non-philosophical

writings, such as the introductions to his Mishnah commentary and
to Perek Helek. Another reflection of the special nature of Byzantine
rationalism is the detailed reference to Saadiah Gaon’s apocalyp-
tic-messianic approach (concerning the resurrection of the dead) in
a homiletic work including a group of homilies from 1424-1425,
which occasionally relies on Maimonides’ Guide. Surely there can be
no more contrasting teachings than Saadiah’s messianic theory and
Maimonides!45 The Byzantine rationalist, however, did not hesitate
to combine these opposites in order to create an apparent picture of
unity and generality.
An additional instance from Ephraim ben Gershon’s homilies, which
were delivered several years after those in the previous anthology, is
the allusion to ancient wisdom. Ephraim formulates a rule stating that
the apprehension of God’s unity depends upon knowledge of logic and
the study of three sciences: physics, mathematics, and metaphysics.
And he concludes:
It is impossible to learn the truth of God’s unity without studying all
these sciences, or at least without studying the writings of our teacher
Saadiah Gaon in his Book of Opinions and in his commentary on the Torah,
or the writings of Rabenu Bahyah in his book Hovat ha-Levavot, or the
writings of the leader, our teacher Moses, the masterly philosopher, in
his prodigious book. From these three giants, a man in whom the spirit
of God is46 may come to know some of the proofs and the strong and
incontrovertible demonstrations attesting to the truth of His unity.47
Maimonides’ rejection of the type of evidence adduced by Saadiah
Gaon and by Bahyah in his tough controversy with the mutakallim
(Moslem theologians) did not prevent Ephraim ben Gershon from
including them in this exchange. Quite the contrary, Ephraim’s defi-
nite recommendation is to study the writings of these three thinkers
and set their respective proofs side by side. In his homilies, Ephraim
resorts extensively to kabbalistic materials and to many rationalist
allegories, and unhesitatingly enters into repeated public discussions
about Kabbalah. In one homily he proclaimed, “this time I will not
45 Mark Saperstein and Ephraim Kanarfogel, “A Byzantine Manuscript of Ser-
mons: A Description and Selections about Prayer and the Synagogue” [Hebrew],
Pe#amim 78 (1999): 171.
46 According to Genesis 41:38.
47 Ephraim ben Gershon, Homilies, London Ms., British Museum 379, 312a.
speak at length of Kabbalah and philosophy, and will deal with simple
matters.”48 He could not hold back, however, and did include kabbalis-
tic material adding a weak apology: “Do not blame me, although I did
say at the outset that I would not speak at length about Kabbalah.”49
Despite his deep attachment to Kabbalah and its diffusion, however,
Ephraim did not hesitate to endorse a radical rationalistic-allegorical
interpretation. He opens a long rationalistic-allegorical exegesis of the
kings’ war in Abraham’s time as follows: “Because these four kings
represent a an extremely deep matter at the esoteric level, hinting at
the four elements, and the five hint at the five senses.”50
This exegesis fits the interpretation of Levi ben Abraham (four
humors and five senses), which evoked the wrath of Abba Mari and
his group in a late thirteenth century controversy.51 Another extreme
rationalist of the early fourteenth century, David ibn Bilia, formulated
an interpretation resembling the one Ephraim would suggest (four
elements and five senses).52 Ephraim, as noted, saw no contradiction
between the public dissemination of esoteric teachings and the radi-
cal rationalist doctrine then inflaming areas of Provence and Spain,
combining them in ways rather improbable for any Spanish or Pro-
vençal rationalist.
Finally, note that even the anti-philosophical polemics of the Karaite
Aaron b. Elijah were not an indication of anti-Aristotelianism. On
the contrary, his teachings constituted “a stage in the development of
Karaite philosophy in its transition from Kalam to Aristotelianism,”53
48 Ibid., 245a.
49 Ibid., 247b.
50 Ibid., 171a.
51 See also A. S. Halkin, “The Ban on the Study of Philosophy” [Hebrew],
Perakim 1 (1967-1968): 38, 40; idem, “Yedaiah Bedersi’s Apology,” in Jewish Medieval
and Renaissance Studies, ed. Alexander Altman (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University
Press, 1967), 170.
52 See Dov Schwartz, “Epigrams (Siyyurin) of R. David Ibn Bilia” [Hebrew],
Kiryat Sefer 63 (1990-1991): 639.

53 Daniel J. Lasker, “Nature and Science according to Aaron ben Elijah the
Karaite” [Hebrew], Da#at 17 (1986): 42. For a survey of the philosophical teachings
of Aaron b. Elijah (d. 1369) see Isaac Husik, A History of Medieval Philosophy (New
York: Harper and Row, 1966, 362-387. Note that Kalkish saw a hankering after
philosophy as a special characteristics of the Karaites: “For they all inclined to the
opinions of Aristotle, Galen, Plato and their associates, and they seem humble but
are hypocritical, and hallucinating fools, like dumb dogs that cannot bark; thus they
are Zadok and Boethus, and the cloud (anan!) removed itself from them, and the
word to the wise will suffice” (Even Sappir, 26a).
194 chapter seven
clearly indicating it was drawing closer to Maimonidean philosophy.54

This development, too, may be ascribed in some degree to the con-
ceptual climate of Byzantine-Jewish rationalism.
Obviously, the implication is not that no radical rationalists were
to be found in Byzantium, particularly rationalists who traveled to the
homelands of Spanish culture or were influenced by it, like Moskoni.
Kalkish himself complains of those who advocate radical rationalist
positions, contrary to the conceptions of Creation and Divine Provi-
dence. Such thinkers are imitating the Gentiles:
“Lest you be lured into their ways” (Deuteronomy 12:30)—this means
that one should not become like them, but that the Jews should be dis-
tinct in their opinions and recognizable by their dress. And he similarly
says, “I have set you apart from other peoples to be mine” (Leviticus
20:26), and our master, the rabbi [Maimonides], explained this to mean
that one should not wear gentile dress, but rather wear the special
Jewish dress as customary among our holy ancestors, may they rest in
peace,55 not as in these inferior, flawed generations, who have changed
their ancestors’ dress and replaced their honor with their dress and the
forelock of the hair on their heads, as customary among the nations who
attach themselves to Baal Pe’or, and all the more so with fragmentary
opinions replacing the belief in Creation and Divine Providence, upon
which belief relies. And I say no more.56
Even if this is merely the routine protestation of a scholar castigating
his contemporaries for their faults, it is plausible that radically inclined
rationalists were active in Byzantium. Owing to their isolation and
the distance from the centers of radical rationalism in Spain and
Provence, however, these individuals never coalesced into a well-
defined, recognized ideological circle. Exegeses of Ibn Ezra’s com-
54 On Aaron ben Joseph’s closeness to Maimonides’ theory of attributes, see

Lasker, “Aaron b. Joseph,” 123. Aaron did justify, however, many approaches rest-
ing on Mutazilite tenets, as was typical of Karaite views from the tenth to twelfth
centuries.
55 Based on Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Idolatry, 11:1: “One should not
walk in the ways of the Gentiles, nor resemble them whether in dress, in hair or the
like, as Scripture says, ‘You shall not follow the practices of the nation…’ [Leviticus
20:23], and it is said, ‘nor shall you follow their laws’ [Leviticus 18:3], and it is said,
‘Beware of being lured into their ways’ [Deuteronomy 12:30]; all these have one
meaning, admonishing one not to resemble them. Rather, the Jew should be distinct
from them and recognized by his dress and his other actions, as he is distinct from
them in his knowledge and his opinions. As Scripture says, ‘I have set you apart from
other peoples’ [Leviticus 20:26].”
mentary on the Torah in mid-fourteenth century Spain created a circle

of radical rationalist thinkers who consistently advocated the eternity
of the world, a philosophically motivated antinomianism (challenging
the authority of Halakhah), asceticism, and other radical concepts.57
But in Byzantium, none of the material I have examined points to
the existence of such an active radical group. True, Moskoni did
support the eternity of the universe in his supercommentary on Ibn
Ezra,58 and Menahem Tamar favored this interpretation as the one
fitting Ibn Ezra:
“As in ‘and cut down,’ etc.”59 That is to say, this is an explanation of
the phrase “and cut them in pieces” (Ezekiel 23:47). And his saying “to
cut or to set a boundary” [le-shum gevul nigzar]—that is an explanation of
“God created,” and his words here are self-understood. Yet, inasmuch
as the rabbis interpret his words [as referring] to creation ex nihilo, and
their intent is desirable in order not to weaken people’s faith, I shall
not be a base fellow who gives away secrets.60
This statement by Menahem Tamar is by no means his final word
on the subject, for he frequently proclaims the truth of the doctrine
of creation ex nihilo, and his views merit deeper study. In any event,
the chronological gap between Moskoni and Tamar militates against
any suggestion that their comments represent a continuous radical
tradition. As noted, the “average” rationalist held moderate views
and shunned the philosophical and antinomian radicalism found in
much of the writing of Spanish and Provençal scholars of the time.
Comtino, for instance, wrote a commentary on the Guide, explaining
Maimonides’ doctrine according to a creation as such. Often, ratio-
nalists even took up kabbalistic ideas or expressed their appreciation
for them. A future study may reveal radical currents and sub-currents
in Byzantine rationalism as well, but the well-established, dominant
presence of moderate rationalism is a fundamental fact in studies of
Byzantine-Jewish thought in the late Middle Ages.
What, then, is the difference between Spanish-Provençal moder-
57 See Dov Schwartz, The Philosophy of a Fourteenth-Century Jewish Neoplatonic Circle
(Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1996).

58 Ibid., 112-113.
59 Ibn Ezra’s Commentary on Genesis 1:1. See Leo Prijs, Abraham ibn Ezra’s
Commentary on Genesis 1–3: Creation and Paradise. First Critical Edition with Introduction,
Explanation and Notes [Hebrew] (London: n. p. 1989), 6-7.
60 Based on Proverbs 11:13. Quoted from Tamar’s supercommentary on Ibn
Ezra, Ms. Leiden, Warner 29, 5b.

196 chapter seven
ate rationalism and its Byzantine version? Regarding its times and its
contents, moderate rationalism resembles the traditionalists’ stance in
the late thirteenth century controversy, when Rashba and his court
issued a ban on the study of sciences for the young. Yet, the writings
of Rashba, Abba Mari, and their faction reveal they are not as com-
mitted to Aristotle and to the Guide as is Kalkish, for instance, who
cites them and refers to them directly and consistently. They were
not involved in a systematic philosophical endeavor resembling that
of Balbo, who was nevertheless a passionate advocate of Kabbalah.
They certainly did not deliver philosophical-allegorical homilies in
public, as did Ephraim b. Gershon, who was fundamentally a kabbal-
ist and applied himself to the spread of Kabbalah in many Byzantine
communities. Byzantine Jews in the late Middle Ages, then, tried to
imitate Spanish-Provençal culture while lacking a stable foundation
that would have compelled them to identify with a particular camp.
This Byzantine character, as noted, lacks originality, but is not identi-
cal to the prevalent Spanish-Provençal style.
Elitism and Esoteric Writing
Byzantine rationalism, then, emerges as somewhat unique. And yet,

the moderate rationalism that evolved in Byzantium was not free of
the elitism that routinely characterized post-Maimonidean rational-
ism in Spain, Provence, or Italy. Let us consider the stylistic aspects
common to Spanish and Byzantine rationalism. Kalkish wrote:
As to the ignorant, they should clearly be punished with much wine to
cause their belly to distend.61 And of them Scripture says, “Oh, those who
are so doughty as drinkers of wine, and so valiant as mixers of drink”
(Isaiah 5:22), and of them it is explained, “Eat and drink, for tomorrow
we die” (Isaiah 22:13). And they make all their days festivals, and that
is what Scripture denounced, saying, “Yea, all tables are covered with
vomit and filth, so that no space is left” (Isaiah 28:8). See, O scholars
of our times, how the prophet, may he rest in peace, denounced them
when he saw their evil, filthy deeds, like so much evil-smelling dung,
to throw it in their faces to make them evil-smelling, so that scholars
should avoid them lest they too become evil-smelling from them, like
“Dead flies turn the perfumer’s ointment fetid and putrid” (Ecclesiastes
10:1), for they are an abomination and their women are like swarming
61 Based on Numbers 5:22.

things, as you see in all generations. So, he who keeps apart from them
will become holy, by virtue of “You shall be holy” (Leviticus 19:2).62
The distinction between the educated and the ignorant is a given
existential situation. Following Maimonides in the introduction to
his Mishnah commentary, Kalkish declared that the purpose of the
“multitude” was to be of benefit to the elect, who realize themselves.
“But the wisdom of God, may He be exalted, decreed that the edu-
cated are few and the ignorant many, to serve them and minister to
them, so that they might conduct their learning without hindrance.
But in messianic times, if we merit them, many will walk about and
wisdom will multiply.”63 While Kalkish’s censure related, as this pas-
sage shows, to keeping company with the ignorant because of their
dissolute behavior, he was equally critical of those who approached
philosophical secrets without prior preparation. After all, such persons
are eager to understand divinity, which is beyond human understand-
ing. Kalkish lamented that his contemporaries, devoid of knowledge,
study the writings of the Christian scholastics:
And the fools who arise in these generations, who have eyes but cannot
see,64 have drunk from the waters of the Christians and reveal their
nakedness in their dress, and proclaim their folly, their rashness, and
their stupidity and know their Creator, for in their hurriedly acquired
and borrowed knowledge, they believe they are potentially perfect, but
they lack knowledge and are blind to the sight of wisdom, and ask how
and what, acting as if they possessed real divinity. They are the foxes
that spoil the vineyard of the world.65
We find an interesting elitist point of view in the writings of Shemariah
Ikriti. He argued, in general, that “the prophets sent to the multitude
to educate them should not speak to them of spiritual matters, for
they are not fit for them.”66 In the introduction to his commentary
on the Song of Songs, he did not hesitate to voice sharp criticism
of King Solomon for his carnal desires. Shemariah proposed an
62 Even Sappir, Ms. Paris 727, 104a.

63 Ibid., 18b. The ideal of the dissemination of knowledge in messianic times
is also Maimonidean (Code, Laws of Kings, chs. 11–12, and so forth), as has been
frequently discussed in the literature.
64 Based on Jeremiah 5:21; Psalms 115:5, 135:16.
65 Based on Song of Songs 2:15. Quotation from Even Sappir, 107a.
66 Long commentary on Song of Songs, Ms. Paris 897, 62a. Cited from Aaron
Ahrend’s introduction to his forthcoming edition of Shemariah’s commentary on the

Aggadah. I am indebted to him for his permission to publish it here.
198 chapter seven
interesting innovation, “a wonderful and deep thing in the quality

of Solomon’s soul, which is practically inaccessible to the ignorant;
only those whose eyes are wide open.” This innovation suggests one
must distinguish between the roles of the upper, intellectual level of
the soul (neshamah) and the animate levels (nefesh, ruah), regarding their
responsibility for a sinful deed and the consequent harm. Shemariah
envisages a situation in which the lower levels satisfy their desires
but the upper level remains unharmed, as it is not an integral part
of the animate levels and in fact survives after their disappearance.
Hence, Solomon’s harem of women harmed him only toward the end
of his life, when the balance was disturbed and his upper level—the
neshamah—was also impaired.67 This bold and unusual idea is char-
acteristic of Shemariah’s thought, which deserves methodical study.
His commentary had to be hidden from the “multitude” probably
because of its antinomian implications.
The elitist attitude is also evident in the homilies addressed to the
broader public. Ephraim ben Gershon distinguishes between the
multitude and the sages on several occasions. For instance, when
speaking of the reason for blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, he
says: “You have learned that the blast evokes the sigh that a person
should sigh for his sins. This is the popular reason, however, and it is
the truth.”68 Beside the popular reason, however, the homilist offers
a “rational reason,” resting on an interpretation of the original sin
as an excessive contemplation of divine wisdom and a consequent
confusion of the mind. Without any qualms, Ephraim drew a distinc-
tion between the masses and special individuals when addressing his
public. In a eulogy “on the death of a scholar,” Ephraim proclaimed:
“There is a difference between scholars and ignorant people, as the
ascent of man over beast.”69
Another episode that brings out the philosophical elitism of the
Byzantine rationalists is associated with the name of Moses Kapu-
zato (Moses “the Greek”), who also insisted on the need to conceal
67 Based on his commentary on Song of Songs, published in The Five Scrolls with
Ancient Commentaries [Hebrew], ed. Yosef David Qafih (Jerusalem, 1962), 22-23. See
Dov Schwartz, “Notes on Shemaria Ikriti’s Commentaries on the Song of Songs”
[Hebrew], in Joseph b. David Qafih Memorial Volume, ed. Zohar Amar and Hananel Seri
(Ramat-Gan: The Bar-Ilan University Campus Rabbi’s Office, 2001), 319-332.
68 London Ms., British Museum 379, 48a.
69 Ibid., 181b.
the secrets of wisdom from the ignorant. Kapuzato, a philosophical

biblical exegete active in the second half of the fifteenth century, was a
rationalist zealously opposed to the Karaites. He criticized Ibn Ezra’s
comments in connection with the three angels who appeared to Abra-
ham (Genesis 18:1). Ibn Ezra cites an interpretation according to which
“The Name [that appeared to Abraham] was three people, He is One
and He is three, and they do not separate.” Kapuzato rejected this
explanation saying, “they forgot [the verse], ‘The two angels arrived
in Sodom…’ (Genesis 19:1).” In Kapuzato’s opinion, Ibn Ezra should
not have rejected this interpretation. On the contrary, he argued,
this is a profound epistemological conception, relying on the idea
of the uniformity of intelligent apprehension (intellect—intellectually
cognizing subject—intellectually cognized object) in the perception of
divinity. In brief, the distinction between the apprehending cognition,
the apprehended object, and the process of apprehension exists only
at the extra-divine level. In intra-divine apprehension, no distinction
prevails between the three components of the apprehension process.
Therefore, irrespective of whether the number of angels mentioned
was two or three, the events described took place in accordance with
human, not divine, cognition. This is known, Kapuzato argues, to
everyone seeking knowledge, but not to the unenlightened. This was
why the Torah was obliged to use the angels as a parable:
Indeed the multitude, because of their folly, are incapable of under-
standing it as it is worthy of being understood, for it is not in the power
of that multitude and therefore they have stumbled upon it. But this
does not happen to them alone, and in each and every nation, this
happens to the wise with the multitude. This is why the prophets saw
fit to conceal the truth of some opinions in parables and opinions fit
for the multitude, and to keep silent in some others, as you see at the
beginning of Genesis and in connection with the tree of life and the tree
of knowledge and the secret of the Garden of Eden and the mysteries
of prophecy and the secrets of the mysteries of the Torah. So do not
think that there is any other reason, Heaven forbid, that the secrets of
the mysteries of Torah and the mysteries of Kabbalah are concealed
for any reason other than these.70
70 Cited (in the name of “Moses the Greek”) in Comtino’s commentary on the
Torah, Ms. Paris 265, 25a; also cited by Israel Zinberg, History of Jewish Literature
[Hebrew], vol. 3 (Tel Aviv: Sherberk, 1958), 18 [not included in the English transla-
tion]. See also Rosanes, History of the Jews in Turkey, 33; Attias, Le commentaire biblique
Mordekhai Komtino, 34.
200 chapter seven
After quoting Kapuzato’s critique, Comtino defends Ibn Ezra’s

exegesis. His main argument is the need to negate the Christological
interpretation, which considers the three personae as a single entity.
Indeed, Christian scholastics relied on the epistemological perception
just described to “prove” the unity of the godhead despite the doctrine
of the Trinity.71 The polemical struggle was complicated by the fact
that, at the time, important theologians of the Eastern Church placed
emphasis on the doctrine of the denial of divine attributes.72 In any
event, Kapuzato explained that parables were directed specifically
to the uneducated, who lacked the capacity for profound speculative
apprehension.
Let us now turn to a few remarks on esoteric material in Byzan-
tine-Jewish writings. In my brief survey of the emergence of astral-
magic traditions in Byzantium, I noted that Judah Moskoni, in his
supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s Torah commentary, presented such
esoteric material as a fitting interpretation for Ibn Ezra’s secrets.73
This approach also involves intellectual elitism, as well as a degree of
esoteric writing. Paradoxically, Moskoni presents the rational reason
that Maimonides offers for the law of the scapegoat as the one that is
actually intelligible to the multitude, namely, as the exoteric level.74
The gist of the rational reason is that the people, witnessing the ritual
of the scapegoat, are terrified. On the other hand, the elite and the
enlightened continue to ponder the reasons for the minute details of
the commandment, that is, the esoteric level:
In any event, should you say that the additional action in the secret of
the scapegoat ritual, beyond its atonement role, suffices for the masses,
71 Elsewhere, Comtino raised a classical anti-Trinity argument, saying that the
Christians were explaining reality not on its own merits but as dictated by prior assump-
tions: “They allow reality to be influenced by their opinions and are themselves not
influenced by reality, as has happened to Christian truth today. They have accepted
belief in the Trinity and established it, and reality had to be reformed in accordance
with their views and verify their views in false ways, and they had to believe those
ways and verify them with false premises, and think them true. This brought them
to their belief in the Trinity, which they founded upon falsehood, and it was a snare
that removed them from truthfulness. That is the reason for ‘You shall not worship
their gods, for that would be a snare to you’” (Comtino, commentary on the Torah,
89a). See Daniel J. Lasker, Jewish Philosophical Polemics against Christianity in the Middle
Ages (New York: Ktav, 1977), 45-104.
72 See Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, The Christian Tradition, vol. 2, The Spirit of Eastern
Christendom (600–1700) (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974), 258-259.

73 Schwartz, Astral Magic.
74 Guide of the Perplexed 3:46.
what will you do with its secret with regard to the perfect ones, for they
will say to you: What is the secret of its ritual for all such whose souls are
not affected, unless as absolute proof and adequate demonstration?75
Perfect people, then, know that only magic-astral reasons provide
a complete explanation for the details of the scapegoat ritual. The
proper disposition for the act of astral magic, which involves many
details, is the profound secret contained in Scripture; and Ibn Ezra’s
enigmatic words allude precisely to that secret. In addition, Moskoni
stated that various Byzantine scholars had studied Ibn Ezra’s most
abstruse secrets; he may, in fact, have been hinting at the existence
of a Byzantine esoteric-exegetical tradition concerning Ibn Ezra’s
enigmatic writing.
Alongside the moderate image of Byzantine rationalism, therefore,
we find other traditions involving the transmission of philosophical
secrets and elitist ideas, disdainful of the multitude and the common
man. According to the available material, it would appear that the
radical-esoteric traditions did not produce structured rationalist circles
of thinkers, as happened in far-off Spain and Provence, although a
considerable amount of manuscript material is still awaiting study.
Limits and Environment
A distinction must be drawn between Byzantine rationalism before,

during, and after the expulsion from Spain. The many Spanish refu-
gees inundating the Ottoman Empire expanded the scope of creative
genres and led to new developments in both content and style. The
phenomenon is particularly evident in the literature of rationalist
homiletics. This genre experienced impressive growth in fifteenth-
century Spain, with the appearance of large-scale homiletical works
such as Isaac Arama’s Akedat Yitzhak and the homilies of Shem Tov b.
Joseph ibn Shem Tov, as well as monographs that had clearly begun
as sermons, such as Sefer ha-Ikkarim.76 After the expulsion, numerous
75 Moskoni, supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Torah, Leviticus
16:8. See Schwartz, Astral Magic, 343. Note that, according to Maimonides himself,
there is no reason for the largely arbitrary details of the commandments. Believers in
astral magic, however, could not possibly accept such an argument.
76 A manuscript of this work was discovered in Candia in 1469 (Ms. Vatican
257). See Joseph Hacker, “The Sephardi Sermon in the Sixteenth Century: Between
Literature and Historical Source” [Hebrew], Pe#amim 26 (1986): 108-127.
202 chapter seven
works of this genre, some on quite a large scale, were written in various
major Byzantine communities, such as Istanbul and Salonica. While
some homiletical works (such as those of Ephraim b. Gershon and the
anonymous preacher whose sermons are preserved in Ms. Cambridge
Add. 1022) were written before the expulsion, the literature became
much richer in its wake.77
The unique characteristics of Byzantine-Jewish rationalism may be
attributed to the special cultural climate of the area that, although
remote from the centers of Spanish culture, strove to prove its prow-
ess in the relevant fields of activity. After the expulsion, with the
subsequent massive influx of Spanish culture, a change took place.
The synthetic model, which combined denunciation of radical phi-
losophy with sympathy for its more moderate trends, gave way to
more extreme models, including an all-out attack on philosophizing
in general.78 Nevertheless, the limits of knowledge were broadened,
and the refugees brought with them to Byzantium an extensive corpus
of Arabic and scholastic literature.
In addition, consideration should be given to other phenomena, such
as the struggle against Karaism, still active in the fifteenth century.79
Echoes of the Karaite threat and its influence may have spread as
far as Spain, since we find anti-Karaite polemics in Spain even in
the fourteenth century, although Karaism in Spain was already in
decline by then.80 Moreover, the impoverished Jewish communities
of Byzantium found themselves embroiled in the conflicts between the
77 See Joseph Hacker, “Patterns of the Intellectual Activity of Ottoman Jewry in
the 16th and 17th Centuries” [Hebrew], Tarbiz 53 (1984): 569-570. In this article,
Hacker describes the arrival of the refugees, bringing their writings and their culture
with them. He points out that “among the Romaniots in the Empire, and especially
in Istanbul, there were great, renowned scholars by no means inferior to the Span-
ish scholars in their intellectual capacity and knowledge” (602-603). On Ephraim b.
Gershon and the anonymous preacher see Ta-Shma, Ha-Nigle she-Banistar, 80-81;
Hacker, “The Ottoman System,” 41-45, 49-50; Saperstein and Kanarfogel, “A
Byzantine Manuscript of Sermons.”
78 See, for instance, Joseph Hacker, “R. Jacob b. Solomon ibn Habib: An Analy-
sis of Leadership in the Jewish Community of Salonica in the Fourteenth Century”

[Hebrew], Proceedings of the Sixth World Congress of Jewish Studies, vol. 2 (1976): 124.
79 See Jean-Christophe Attias, “Intellectual Leadership: Rabbanite-Karaite Relations
in Constantinople as Seen through the Works and Activity of Mordekhai Comtino

in the Fifteenth Century,” in Ottoman and Turkish Jewry: Community and Leadership, ed.
Aron Rodrigue (Bloomington: Indiana University, 1992), 67-86.
80 For an example of such polemics, see the works of Israel Israeli. See Nahem
Ilan, “Pursuit of Truth” and “A Path for the Many”: Studies of the Teachings of R. Israel Israeli
of Toledo [Hebrew] (Ph.D. diss: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1999).
Ottomans and the Christian empire. The condition of the communities

in the empire itself was far from ideal. While the well-known appeal
of Isaac Zarfati to European Jews to emigrate to Byzantium paints a
moderate picture of official attitudes to the Jews, various scholars have
challenged the accuracy of this evidence.81 The fear of a decline in
spiritual creativity is clearly evident in Kalkish’s writings: “As a stranger
in the Cretan community, I awoke from the sleep of my folly and
laziness before the Holy Ark should be taken away.”82 The result, as
we have seen, was a degree of rationalism that combines receptivity
and moderation, as well as rational and non-rational traditions. The
combination sometimes gave rise, paradoxically, to fierce attacks on
philosophers, on the one hand, and the adoption of radically rational
positions, on the other. In any case, Byzantine rationalists invested their
creative efforts in areas that occupied Spanish-Provençal culture, but
with recourse to a limited philosophical library and in an atmosphere
of geographical and spiritual isolation.
Further research is necessary on circles and centers of Jewish-Byz-
antian rationalism. For instance, we know of fruitful philosophical
activity in Candia,83 continuing well into the fifteenth century, and
the philosophical approach developed there deserves further study.
Karaite intellectual activity in various centers produced a variety of
philosophical doctrines, some of which await examination. Contacts
with Ashkenazi Jewry enriched Jewish-Byzantine thought in various
directions, which also deserve scholarly efforts. These are only some
of the indications of Byzantine scholarly interest in philosophizing in
different fields, which was responsible for vigorous rational creativity
in late medieval Byzantium, despite its remoteness.
In the next chapter, I will attempt to demonstrate the applica-
tion of these conclusions to a realm of ideas that occupied a central
place in both Spanish-Provençal and Byzantine culture: astral-magic
theology.
81 See Zvi Graetz, History of the Jews, vol. 4 (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication
Society, 1956), 271–274; Hacker, Jewish Society in Salonica and Environs, appendix 1;
idem, “The Ottoman System.”
83 Balbo, for instance, was active in the Candia center. A considerable amount
of material survives in manuscript. See, for instance, Ms. Vatican 225, copied in
Candia in 1458, which includes both philosophical and kabbalistic works written
in a philosophical style. Similarly, Ms. Vatican 345 was copied there in 1451, with
commentaries on Averroes and Avicenna’s canon. See also above.
magic, astrology, and theology 205
CHAPTER EIGHT
MAGIC, ASTROLOGY, AND

THEOLOGY IN LATE MEDIEVAL BYZANTIUM
Prior to the mid-fourteenth century, no extensive magic-astral exege-

ses of biblical sources or of Ibn Ezra’s Torah commentary had been
included in the literature. The phenomenon of thinkers wandering
westward enabled astral magic to enter Byzantium as a theological
concept. Ibn Ezra had preoccupied Byzantine thinkers and a tradi-
tion of supercommentaries was widespread in Byzantium,1 probably
contributing to the interest in the astrological and magic-astral views
of this enigmatic exegete.
I would now like to examine certain features unique to the astral
magic conceptions of a few Byzantine thinkers, beyond angles common
to east and west. My perspective is comparative rather than historical-
developmental. Here, too, the description should be treated with some
reserve, in view of the paucity of the available material; nevertheless,
what does exist reflects an interesting viewpoint, rather different from
that of Spanish-Provençal culture. After considering the features typi-
cal of Byzantine Jewish culture, I shall point out a few characteristics
it shares with the philosophical culture of the west.
Unique Features
The specifically Byzantine features of magic-astral conceptions in late

medieval times were not necessarily an outcome of originality and
profundity, but rather the result of remoteness and lack of sources.
Lacking sources, thinkers sometimes entered into elementary discus-
sions of astrological and magic-astral issues. Remoteness from the
1 Evidence of an extant tradition of concern with Ibn Ezra’s mysteries is that

Eliezer ben Mattatia’s commentary, written in the thirteenth century, was widespread
in Byzantium. See Abraham David, “Notes on the History of Eliezer b. Mattatia
he-Hasid, a Palestinian Sage” [Hebrew], in From the Collections of the Institute of Micro-
filmed Hebrew Manuscripts (Jerusalem: The Jewish National and University Library,
1995), 35.
206 chapter eight
centers of theological debate and interpretation in Spain and Provence

led to the formation of integrative and syncretistic perceptions that
combined, as it were, a variety of positions.
An Unknown Science
The scarce material available to Byzantine thinkers in the fourteenth
and early fifteenth centuries left its mark in all three fields of astronomy,
astrology, and astral magic, as attested by the the following statement
by Elnathan b. Moses Kalkish:
The great scholars of medicine wished to know the reason for limiting
the day of sickness to the seventh, the seventeenth and the twenty-first,
and could not find a resting-place for their feet,2 for this science depends
on the median conjunction, on correct knowledge. And who is there
today, whether gentile or Jew, who knows the secret of astronomy, with
proper knowledge, to know and recognize immediately when a sickness
occurs and under what sign one should erect a building and perform an
action in accordance with the celestial configuration, to allay the reason
of the sickness and its height and strength.3
Lack of astronomical knowledge necessarily implies inability to heal and
to apply magic-astral measures. Moreover, Kalkish’s main complaint
refers to ignorance of astrology and magic. As noted, Spanish thought
viewed astral magic as an ancient wisdom that had disappeared without
a trace.4 The traces, however, relate to the theological interpretation
that had founded ritual on the principles of astral magic, whereas
Kalkish was speaking of practices of astral magic in medicine. Healing
with amulets was then a discipline taught at western universities and,
in some ways, an integral part of the medical curriculum.
Kalkish considered a knowledge of astronomy necessary for astral
magic. Together with other Byzantine thinkers he tried, as it were, to
“reconstruct” astronomical and astrological knowledge by extensively
recording the stars’ influences.5 The fact that evidence of a lack of
magic-astral sources is no longer common by the fifteenth century
provides some indication of the dynamics of Byzantine Jewish thought
at the turn of the fourteenth-fifteenth centuries.
2 According to Genesis 8:9. See Ibn Ezra on Genesis 8:5.

4 See above, 000 (ch. 4, part 1).
5 Even Sappir, 35a–b; Comtino, Commentary on the Torah, Ms. Paris 265,
104a–106a.
Science or Craft?
As is clear from the above passage, Kalkish considered healing by

astral-magic means both important and efficient. Contemporary
doctors, he complained, did not know how to “study the science of
astronomy with its experiential basis, that is, the astrolabe, to know the
hours and minutes when the sickness has begun to act in accordance
with the decree of the heavenly configuration.”6 Thus, astral-magical
healing was considered a “special, great science.” Kalkish, however,
was not merely content with healing by such means and held that
these magical arts made it possible to vanquish the laws of nature
altogether, as follows from his explanation of Elijah’s ascent to heaven,
which he contrasted with the actions of Balaam:
On the matter of Elijah who flew in the air in the wind, it should be said
that he was familiar with the power of the Supernal, knowing how to
receive the power of the Great Luminary, and he enunciated the Inef-
fable Name, [which] moved him and the air propelled him in his body
and moved him and made him fly. Balaam the magician, however, did
this through demons who led the Great Luminary to him in his body
and made him fly, for the demons are familiar with this science and
their will is done everywhere and they have the power of the planets
in whatever matter they desire.7
Astral magic was therefore the key to understanding wonder-working,

whether for good or for bad, for Kalkish also explained the actions of
the Egyptian magicians in this way. Sorcery was seen to be a “science”
[hokhmah] almost always associated with the “supernal configuration”
[ha-ma#arakhah ha-eliyonah]. Elsewhere, Kalkish listed thirty-two paths,
identifying them, in the style of ecstatic Kabbalah, with intelligences
of different kinds. He ends the list as follows: “The thirty-second path
is called the worshiped intelligence, so called because it is an object of
worship to all those who use the action of the seven planets.”8 Hence,
using astral powers through various rituals was seen as genuinely
6 Even Sappir, 33a.

7 Ibid., 97a. For a similar association on Elijah “flying in the world as a bird”
[“poreah ba-olam ketsippor”], see the Midrash on Psalms 8:7.
8 Ibid., 75a. On the foundations of ecstatic Kabbalah in this passage, see Moshe
Idel, The Mystical Experience in Abraham Abulafia, trans. Jonathan Chipman (Albany:
SUNY, 1988).
208 chapter eight
divine knowledge, and Kalkish, as we have seen, complained that

few Byzantine sources were available for it.
This was also Judah Moskoni’s perception, who considered it a sign
of “disrespect” to offer merely an astrological interpretation of the
High Priest’s vestments. For Moskoni, these vestments were not only
astrological tools but also talismans. In his view, “the makings of the
ephod and the breastplate… [are] imitations of secret things from
the craft of the heavens and, in general, from the middle and super-
nal worlds.”9 Moskoni also insisted that every prophet, with the sole
exception of Moses, had occasionally needed the Urim and Thummim
as astral-magical tools in order to discharge their duties.10
Mordechai Comtino, however, repeatedly portrayed astral magic
as a form of idolatry and denied it any efficacy. His negative attitude
to the field may well have inspired his definition, which oscillates
between “science” and “craft” (melakhah). According to Comtino, men
were punished for Adam’s sin by having their years shortened, “so that
they should not fully understand the science of the constellations.”11
As a consequence, Comtino also held that bringing down spirituality
on amulets was merely a craft. He strongly disagreed with Ibn Ezra’s
well known interpretation of Laban’s terafim. Ibn Ezra had proposed
three explanations, one of which identified the terafim with an astro-
logical instrument, such as the astrolabe, the other, with a talisman.
Comtino asked: On the one hand, Ibn Ezra decides in favor of an
astral-magic explication; on the other, Ibn Ezra goes on to explain
that Rachel feared her father would discover Jacob’s escape route by
consulting the stars, implying that the terafim were not astral-magical
instruments:
As to the terafim: some say that they are an instrument made to tell the
time. And some say that astrologers have the power to make an image at
certain times to draw down supernal force. And R. Abraham b. Ezra…
said that the truth is that they are of human shape, made to receive
supernal force. And to explain why Rachel stole them he said that her
father Laban was proficient in astrology, and she feared that he would
examine the constellations to find out their escape route. Now I do
not know how his two statements may be harmonized, for the images
made to receive supernal force are intended to anticipate the future or
9
Even ha-Ezer, London-Montefiori Ms. 49, 204b; Schwartz, Astral Magic, 209–210.
This passage is cited in p. 302.
10 Even ha-cEzer, 373 a–b.
11 Comtino, Commentary on the Torah, 15a.
the present, as known in the science of talismans; while the instruments

through which one examines the constellations are instruments that show
the ascendant together with the other cusps and houses that are near
and that coincide with the aspects of the stars according to the latitude
of the place, insofar as their place is known by calculation for the time
of the question or for the time of nativity, in order to know the future
or the present.…12
Comtino finally decided in favor of the astrological rather than the
astral-magical interpretation, for exegetical reasons; but the point is
that he considered the attraction of spiritual power as a “science”
[hokhmah]. Elsewhere, however, Comtino describes astral magic as a
“craft” (melakhah) or “active craft” (melekhet pe#ulah). He distinguishes
between two types of “crafts”: techniques for knowing the future and
techniques for influencing future events. Of the second type he writes:
“Hence the group who make images to receive supernal power to
effect good or bad, as they think.”13 He denies the efficacy of such
techniques on many occasions, such as the following:
“Moses made a copper serpent” (Numbers 21:9)—because he found it
written in the book of talismans that when the end of the constellation
of Sagittarius emerges from twenty degrees and more and the moon is
there in conjunction, if one makes a three-dimensional copper serpent
and engraves certain inscriptions upon it in the likeness of the letters
of the person bearing them, then the serpents will flee from him, and
if a person bitten by a serpent looks at it he will live—[because of this]
people thought that is why this serpent was made. But that thought
is nonsense; for this was done in the hour of wrath, and it cannot be
thought that it was done at a propitious time and that it was mounted
on the standard when necessary, for it is not written in Scripture, “Put
the serpent on a standard,” only “Make a serpent” (Numbers, 21:8). And
one should not ask why, for the Lord’s thoughts are profound.14
Thus, Comtino rejected the explication of the copper serpent as a tal-
isman. Though on one occasion Comtino referred to the use of talis-
mans as a science, he frequently denied the efficacy of that “science,”
presenting it as little more than a technique. It would seem clear that,
in his public discourse, Comtino was inclined to deny the reality of
12 Ibid., 36b; Ibn Ezra offers his explanation in his commentary on Genesis 31:
19. See also Schwartz, Astral Magic, 73–74.

13 Comtino, Commentary on the Torah, 99b.
14 Ibid., 146a. See also Mauro Zonta, La ‘Classificazione delle Scienze’ di Al-Farabi
nella Tradizione Ebraica (Venezia: Silvio Zamorani Editore, 1992), 27-28.

210 chapter eight
astral magic, his use of the term “science” merely reflecting an existing
tradition on a realm of knowledge that he himself rejected.
The perception that astral magic was a “science” persisted even after
the cultural switch of the mid-fifteenth century in Byzantium. This
is illustrated by the attitude of Menahem Tamar, who also described
astral magic in those terms when explaining Ibn Ezra’s statement that
“it is known that [Laban] changed [Jacob’s] wages, that he should
take the speckled [sheep] only”:
It would seem that this changing is known to us by logical deduction,
although not explicitly mentioned in the Torah when it took place, but
since Jacob related it to his wives we know it is true. Perhaps he had
in this connection another science concerning the constellations or the
separation of the sheep, or it was by Divine Providence, which seems
the most probable; therefore Scripture says thereafter, “God has taken
away [your father’s livestock…].”15
Tamar presents three alternative explanations of Jacob’s action: (1)
astral magic; (2) deception, or perhaps use of natural means; (3)
Divine Providence. Tamar prefers the third alternative, but all the
same presents the first as a “science.” Elsewhere, Tamar presents
Maimonides’ view on the purpose of the commandments, including
magic-astral elements. In his view:
Observing the commandments has two objectives. One is to amend
the political collective, which is the welfare of the body. The other is
to contemplate the reason for the commandment, so that the educated
person who grasps it might receive the abundance of the commandment,
which is the welfare of the soul.16
According to Maimonides, the welfare of the soul means contemplating
the true opinions. By contrast, the welfare of the soul for Tamar means
knowledge of the commandment’s utilitarian dimension—receiving
the abundance. The commandments, then, are perceived as recipients
for lowering abundance.
In sum: Comtino’s wavering between defining astral magic as
a “science” or as a “craft” is interesting and worthy of attention. A
thinker’s definition of a concept reflects his general attitude to that
concept. True, one frequently finds Moskoni using the expression “craft
15 Ibn Ezra, Commentary on Genesis 31:7; Tamar’s commentary ad loc., Ms.
Leiden, Warner 29, 42b.

16 Ibid., 112b, and also ibid., 184a. Tamar ascribes this approach to Ibn Ezra.
of the heavens” [melekhet shamayyim], which in Hebrew is reminiscent

of the expression “work [making] of the Tabernacle” [melekhet ha-
mishkan]. Ostensibly, the term craft refers more to a technical rather
than a distinctively intellectual realm. Substantively, however, Mos-
koni was undoubtedly convinced that bringing down spirituality was
a “science.”
Magic of the Name

An interesting combination of astral magic and magic of names
appears in Kalkish’s writings and Ephraim Ben Gershon’s homilies.
Ibn Ezra’s writings are the source of this magic combination,17 and
Kalkish and Ephraim Ben Gershon applied it broadly for hermeneu-
tical and homiletical purposes. As noted, Kalkish argued that Elijah
flew in the air in the wind,18 and was made to fly after enunciating
the Ineffable Name.19 Kalkish explained this midrash as meaning
that the combination of the “supernal power” and the use of the
name enabled Elijah to fly. Ephraim has lengthy homilies on Purim,
and wrote on the celestial situation leading to the chain of events
mentioned in the Book of Esther:
Benevolent and malicious stars vied and fought with each other, and
Saturn and Mars in their great and resolute power think of vanquishing
Israel, while Jupiter and Venus were impotent and could not stand up
to them. Esther, then, needed the help of He who is higher and stronger
than all the high and strong stars, and mentioned in her question the
special name, blessed be He, the God of Israel who defeats and destroys
the astrological rules, and can humble and void the power of the stars.
She [Esther] wanted to approach this matter by making a feast. And
it is known that through the power of this name, the supernal descend
and the nether ascend. 20
17 See Aviezer Ravitzky, “Maimonides and his Disciples on Linguistic Magic
and the ‘Folly of Amulet Writers’” [Hebrew], in Jewish Culture in the Eye of the Storm:
Jubilee Book in Honor of Yosef Ahituv, ed. Avi Sagi and Nahem Ilan (Tel Aviv and Ein
Tsurim: Hakibbutz Hameuhad and the Yaakov Herzog Institute, 2002), 431-458.
The combination of astral magic and magic of the name in the fourteenth century
appears, for instance, in Megillat Setarim. See Iggrot ha-Rambam (Lipsia, 1859), 35c-d.
See Gershom Scholem, “From Philosopher to Kabbalist: A Legend of the Kabbal-
ists on Maimonides” [Hebrew], Tarbiz: The Maimonides Book 6 (1935): 94-95; Moshe
Idel, “Maimonides and Kabbalah,” in Studies in Maimonides, ed. Isadore Twersky
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1990), 79.
18 See Midrash on Psalms (Buber edn.), 8:7.
19 Even Sappir, 97a.
20 Homilies, London Ms., British Museum 379, 5b.
212 chapter eight
Esther’s acts are described as defensive magic, intended to cancel the

negative emanation. The feast is described as a preparation toward
the magical act, but the core of the deed is the use of the divine
name. The logical basis for this activity is that God rules over the
celestial forces. Communion with God, then, enables individuals to
transcend their stellar destiny. The communion, however, depends
on the ritual of the divine name.
Indirectly, Ephraim validates the magic of the name through the
features and punctuation of the letters, which he notes in detail and
at length while weaving in several kabbalistic and mystical motifs. He
writes, for instance, “hirik [a diacritic mark] hints that it can shatter
and destroy the course of the sign.”21 The power of the written word
joins the power of the spoken word. Ephraim further argues that
prayer is informed with exalted powers.22 He describes the divine
emanation that can be drawn down through blessings in a unique
kabbalistic style, presenting those blessed as “recipients.”23 Prayer and
21 Ibid., 21b. The review of the letters’ characteristics and their punctuation begins
at 20b. See, for instance, Yair Zoran, “Magic, Theurgy, and the Knowledge of Let-
ters in Islam and their Parallels in Jewish Literature” [Hebrew], Jerusalem Studies in
Jewish Folklore 18 (1997): 19-62. On the magic of the divine name and its punctuation
in Jewish mysticism see, for instance, Moshe Idel, “On Devotion in the Shmoneh
Esreh Prayer of Isaac the Blind” [Hebrew], in Massu"ot: Studies in Kabbalistic Literature
and Jewish Philosophy in memory of Prof. Ephraim Gottlieb, ed. Michal Oron and Amos
Goldreich (Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1994), 25-52. In the same volume, see Ithamar
Greenwald, “The Writing, the Letter, and the Tetragrammaton: Magic, Spirituality,
and Mysticism” [Hebrew], 75-98.
22 “Since prayer has the power to change nature” (Homilies 139a). See, for instance,
Abraham Elkayam, “Between Referentialism and Performativism: Two Approaches

in Understanding the Kabbalistic Symbol” [Hebrew], Da#at 24 (1990), 29ff.
23 “This is the hundredfold that Isaac found (according to Genesis 26:12) and
what he was blessed with are a hundred wells around the gates of justice, from which
the blessing, the abundance, and the emanation flow to all creatures, through Israel’s
praying of the one hundred blessings. Hence, you will find in the Tabernacle one
hundred sockets for one hundred pillars, a socket for each pillar (Exodus 38:27),
and you will not find one socket that had no recipient for pillars. The mystery of
the pillars is known to be in the hooks, and the evidence is: the hooks of the pillars
(Exodus 38:11, 17), and the mystery of the middle line and the God of Jacob, since
this is how each one in Israel will be blessed in one hundred kinds of blessings, and
abundance, and emanation. Each one in Israel should recite one hundred blessings
every day (TB Menahot 43b); in other words, every blessing has a wellspring and
a place from which it flows and emanates” (Homilies 142b). Ephraim ben Gershon
described the order of the emanation as an abundance that the blessings draw from
the sefirah of tiferet (“the middle line,” “the God of Jacob”) to the sefirah of malkhut
(“the gates of justice”) and from there to the person pronouncing the blessing. He does
blessings, acts fundamentally verbal, are presented as a source for

drawing down emanation in various modes. According to Ephraim
ben Gershon, the use of the divine name thus neutralizes the harmful
influence of the stars, and the Book of Esther is reinterpreted in light
of this principle.
An Intermediate Position
Two main camps crossed swords over the question of astral magic in
late thirteenth-century Provence. Conservatives recognized popular
magic in its various forms, but rejected astral magic. Rationalists
rejected the forms of popular magic but ascribed great importance to
magic-astral practices. While most rationalists rejected popular magic,
many kabbalists dabbled in it and legitimated it, at least theoretically.
Kalkish was a Byzantine kabbalist, but he nevertheless took an emphati-
cally rationalist position. We have already seen that, despite the fierce
attacks on philosophers, Kalkish was appreciative of real metaphys-
ics such as that of Aristotle in his writings. The following attack on
believers in popular magic is phrased in philosophical terms:
I have heard, and it has also been brought to my ears concerning the
sorcerers of this generation, inferior upstarts, that they have chosen a
[divine or magical] name by themselves and that they write amulets to
cure people frightened by spirits. These people imagine that they will
thereby call off demons and be healed from their sickness and their
imagination, as in the prophecy of the renowned prophets upon whom
rests the spirit of the Lord and in whom is the supernal spirit, who loudly
proclaim that these things have appeared to them in visions. But these
people are foolish and mad, full of delusions, with filthy brains… For
the supernal powers are prevented from bestowing prophetic abundance
upon us. Where is the wisdom of the ignorant fools, who roar like rash
leopards?24
The argument against popular magic proceeds as follows: Those who
write charms and pose as prophets hinder the authentic attraction
of prophetic abundance (“the supernal powers are prevented…”). In
other words, popular magic supersedes “intellectual” magic, that is,
the bringing down of spirituality. This style does not prevail among
Spanish and Provençal kabbalists. On the contrary, there were tradi-
not renounce the theurgic effects of sacrifices and prayer—keruv ha-sefirot [bringing
the sefirot closer], and makes explicit statements to that effect in 147b.
24 Even Sappir, 2b.
214 chapter eight
tionalists and kabbalists who believed in the magical material found

in the Talmud, for instance, while rejecting astral magic.
Regarding this area, then, the feature unique to Byzantine thought
was the emergence of intermediate positions, unknown or rare in
contemporary Spain and Provence. This can probably be attributed
to the lack of a firm tradition of magic-astral theology among Byzan-
tine-Jewish thinkers. No well-defined philosophical circles, like those
of Spain and Provence, existed in fourteenth century Byzantium, at
least according to the research findings so far.
Common Features
After presenting several features unique to the thought that developed

in Byzantine culture, I will now point out some elements common to
the magic-astral traditions of Byzantine thinkers and Spanish-Provençal
culture. Rather than on the entire range of astrological and magic-
astral theology, my focus will be on issues linking astral magic and
Spanish-Provençal rationalism. The list of common characteristics is
followed by a broader discussion of some of them.
Astral Magic and Communion

Like Spanish philosophers of the mid-fourteenth century, Kalkish
believed there was a relationship between astrology and astral magic
on the one hand, and intellectual religious perfection on the other.
Whoever is proficient in that science can do whatever he wishes, and
the Lord… accepts his conjunction [dibuko] and the angels bring him
everything; for [such persons] receive from the supernal configuration,
both above and below, everything [they desire] is created [comes to
pass]. This is great wisdom, blessed be the Lord who created every-
thing in wisdom and bestowed some of his wisdom on his creatures as
he willed.25
Conjunction with God is the result of sorcery (both astral and using
names), and whoever attains it is endowed with unlimited capacities, a
25 Ibid., 97a. See Schwartz, Astral Magic, 155–157. Kalkish ascribed exceptional
knowledge of astral magic to Saadiah Gaon. Compare Dov Schwartz and Eliezer
Schlossberg, “Studies on Saadyah” [Hebrew], in Kiryat Sefer: Collected Essays, ed.
Yehoshua Rosenberg (Jerusalem: Jewish National and University Library, 1998),
Supplement to Vol. 68: 187-188.
view echoing the notion of miracle as the outcome of human powers

reaching communion with supernal beings.26 Menahem Tamar voiced a
similar argument more briefly, and in Ibn Ezra’s style: “When a person
secludes himself, he may receive supernal power and commune with
the Lord.”27 This style recurs in Ephraim ben Gershon’s homilies.
He emphasizes at length the direct link between communion with
the supremes and the drawing down of their power to the terrestrial
world, as discussed below.28
Conjunction with God through Magical Means

The use of techniques consistent with magic-astral practice to achieve
devekut (communion with God) for utilitarian purposes, such as evad-
ing trouble or catastrophe, features frequently in Spanish-Provençal
exegesis. Comtino explained in this spirit the smearing of the Paschal
lamb’s blood on the Israelites’ doors:
Pay attention and know that the lintel is the supernal (ha-eliyon), the
two doorposts are the eastern and the western, and the blood is the
soul; and when the blood reaches the lintel and the two doorposts,
he will commune with the supernal and be saved, and Scripture says,
“while you, who held fast to the Lord your God, are all alive today”
(Deuteronomy 4:4). Therefore, “He will see the blood on the lintel and
the two doorposts, and the Lord will pass over the door and not let the
Destroyer” (Exodus 12:23).29
Comtino is relating here to a specific ritual, namely, the smearing of
the blood on the lintel and the doorposts in order to prevent harm.
It seems the “eastern” and the “western” reflect the stars,30 whereas
the “supernal” reflects God. Communion with God brings salvation
from stellar decrees, and the adopted ritual reflects this principle. The
symbolic interpretation links the ritual to intellectual communion,
preventing the Destroyer from attaining his evil will. Tamar explains
that the purpose of Balaam’s seven altars was “the continuation [of
26 Aviezer Ravitzky, Crescas’ Sermon on the Passover and Studies in his Philosophy [Hebrew]
(Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1988), 69-110.

27 Supercommentary on Ibn Ezra, 80a.
28 See above, 211-213.
29 Comtino, Commentary on the Torah, 65a.
30 Compare with Abraham Ibn Ezra, Sefer ha-Olam, ed. Judah Leib Fleischer (offset
in Kitvei R. Abraham Ibn Ezra, vol. 1 [Jerusalem: Makor, 1970], 18.

216 chapter eight
the emanation], in order to prophesy.”31 The technique of the hep-

tads, to which Ibn Ezra hints in his commentary, was thus intended
to achieve prophecy.
Astral Magic and Segullot

As in Spanish-Provençal culture, Kalkish too associated astral magic
with actions usually perceived as segullot (special properties or remedies),
and revealed through the evidence of experience. In the context of
a comprehensive discussion of astral magic and the magic of divine
names, he wrote, “As to the wise man who said one thing and the
whole field was filled with cucumbers, that means that every image
existing down below also exists on high, whether trees or grasses, and
that is a great secret.32
Menachem Tamar interpreted Ibn Ezra’s hint about incense, which
is usually linked to a magic-astral interpretation, as referring to its
natural effects:
He [Ibn Ezra] did not say “the incense, and so forth” Rather, he referred
to the rabbinic midrash in TB Shabbat 207, where the angel of death
told him this secret, as he was going up to heaven, that incense stops the
plague. And the sage [Ibn Ezra] says that, if this were true, he would
have said “the incense”; but when saying “incense,” he was hinting at
another incense made of remedies that stop the plague naturally. That
is why he said, “a word to the wise will suffice.”33
Tamar was apparently claiming that, besides its superior magic
powers, the action of incense rests on remedies that stop the plague.
The natural explanation of incense lies in pharmacology, and Ibn
Ezra cloaked it in mystery. We find a similar explanation for the
sacrifice that Noah offered after the flood. On Ibn Ezra’s comments
31 Tamar, supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Torah, 265b.

Tamar adds: “When he says, ‘when the complete is given to the complete…’ (Ibn
Ezra on Numbers 23:1), he suggests that when giving seven, which is a complete
number, to the complete, which is God, may He be blessed, the true completeness, a
spirit of understanding will be renewed and the Holy Spirit will lie upon the person
offering the sacrifice.”
32 Even Sappir, 97a (based on TB Sanhedrin 68a). Kalkish cites a series of experiences,
beginning one of them with the words “and now hear the mystery of this matter and
its action” (ibid., 128a). Nevertheless, he stated that reliance on kabbalistic doctrines
and on the magic of the divine name was necessary for success in this activity.
33 Supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Torah (Numbers 17:1),
258a. In his commentary ad locum, Rashi cites TB Shabbat 89a.

and on why “the pleasant odor assuages God’s wrath or will attract
a supreme power,”34 Tamar writes:
The pleasant odor assuages the wrath, the wrath that brought the flood, because
the incense removes the mould and assuages the wrath and shines the
air, as Moses said to Aaron, “take the censer… and put on incense…
for wrath is gone…” (Numbers 17:11). Or it will attract a supreme power—it
will bring down the supreme power from the place of the supreme soul,
namely, abundance and communion.35
The source of the odor that will assuage God’s wrath is in the sac-
rifice offered by Noah. According to Tamar’s interpretation, God is
appeased either by the incense or by the active drawing down of the
emanation. Both options relate to the odor reaching God, namely,
to the incense. Following Ibn Ezra, Tamar adds the magic-astral
exegesis to the one relying on remedies, as two options explaining
the action of incense.
Astral Magic and Esotericism

In Byzantium, as in Spanish-Provençal culture, it was believed that
the field of astral magic should be concealed behind a veil of secrecy.
Some authors spoke of “secrets” even as they wrote openly in the
vein of astral-magical interpretation, while others were more circum-
spect. Thus, Moskoni’s explanations of Ibn Ezra’s commentary wrap
everything in a shroud of secrecy. Here is an example from Comtino’s
interpretation of the plague of hail:
You cannot argue [by analogy] from the other plagues, because in no
other plague do you find [Scripture saying], “I shall spread out my
hands to the Lord” (Exodus 9:29), in the spirit of [the scriptural verse],
“whenever Moses held up his hand” (Exodus 17:11). For the miracle took
place in the supernal regions, and I cannot explain why that happened,
for it is a wondrous secret, “so that you may know that the earth is the
Lord’s” (Exodus 9:29) and He does whatever He wishes on earth even
if that [the supernatural] is not God’s [usual] action.36
The presentation of astral magic as a mystery recurs in the second
half of the fifteenth century, in the homiletic and exegetical thought
34 Ibn Ezra’s commentary on Genesis 8:21. Ibn Ezra comments on two denota-
tions of the Hebrew verb heniah, meaning both to assuage and to attract.
35 Supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Torah, 19b. See Schwartz,
Astral Magic, 258.

36 Comtino, commentary on the Torah (Exodus 9:29), 59b.
218 chapter eight
of Ephraim ben Gershon and Menachem Tamar. Ephraim resorts to

magic when discussing the reasons for the commandments:
As for the benefits of lighting it [the candelabrum], this involves a sublime
mystery, namely, that the candelabrum hints at the seven planets. When
they endeavored and gave it its share, the abundance of the blessing
would flow onto them from the seven planets and they would not suffer
from blight or rot or any other calamity effected by the stars. Because
by lighting the candelabrum, they not only brought upon themselves
blessing and favor, but also avoided calamity.37
Ephraim wrote this as a homily for the Shemini Atseret holiday, and
considered in its context the various meanings of the number seven.
His approach reflects the dialectics of rationalist homiletics, which
publicly addresses the public on the one hand, and discusses matters
with esoteric associations on the other. Lighting the candelabrum
is thus perceived as an act meant to abate the negative influence
flowing from the seven planets. Ephraim clarifies to his audience
that, through this explanation, he is exposing a “sublime mystery.”
Esotericism, appropriate to rationalist mysteries, turns now to magic-
astral mysteries.
Let us now shift from homiletics to exegesis. Tamar interprets Ibn
Ezra’s commentary on the tablets—“the word Elohim refers to the
glory dwelling in an image of a body”38—when referring to Ibn Ezra’s
renowned interpretation of the terafim as an “image” made according
to the “sages of the constellations.” He concludes by paraphrasing Ibn
Ezra, “and Laban called the terafim Elohim, and I am not permitted
to explain this any further.”39 Presenting the tablets as talismans for
attracting spirituality cloaks them in secrecy, ostensibly continuing
Ibn Ezra’s tradition of mystery. The magic-astral mysteries meant
for sages and people in the know are scattered throughout Ibn Ezra’s
homiletics and exegesis.
37 Homilies, London Ms., British Museum 379, 323b.

38 Ibn Ezra’s commentary on Exodus 31:18.
39 Supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Torah, 164b. On Tamar’s
interpretation of the terafim see Schwartz, Astral Magic, 214. Yet, note that Tamar’s
exegesis suggests no familiarity with theological and magic-astral traditions prevalent in
Spain. For instance, he interprets Ibn Ezra’s magic term lishmor koah ha-kibbul [preserve
the receptivity] in terms that are not at all magical (see ibid., 309b).
Astral Magic v. Other Magic

Spanish-Provençal rationalism draws a distinction between astral magic,
construed as real and to some extent scientific, and other forms of
magic, unreal and exerting only psychological influence. One example
is Tamar’s commentary on the sorceress:
In Saul’s thought and imagination, he believed the prophet Samuel had
felt sorrow about this deed, and it appeared to him that Samuel told
him so. And the sage [Ibn Ezra] holds that all the witches’ deeds are not
real, because they are vanity;40 hence the Torah forbade them, as Mai-
monides explained. And the sage [Ibn Ezra] had already mentioned this
elsewhere as well when saying, “as I commented on the sorceress,”41 but
we have not seen this because we no longer have the teacher’s exegeses
on the minor prophets.42 Yet, let us search for our own understanding
of his view on the subject, knowing that this was also the view of David
Kimchi on this issue,43 who probably followed Ibn Ezra.44
The matter of the sorceress is thus explained as unfolding in Saul’s
imagination, and Tamar joins a rich exegetical tradition (that includes
David Kimchi, Gersonides, Jedayah ha-Penini, and others), claiming
that a psychological foundation underlies the literal magical layer.
Kalkish also relies on this tradition, and particularly on Kimchi’s
psychological exegesis of the sorceress, to justify his utter rejection of
any involvement in magic and devils without relying on the Kabbalah
and on divine names.45
Astral Magic and Idolatry

Finally, Byzantine-Jewish thinkers also expressed reservations regarding
the far-reaching theological implications of the action of bringing down
40 According to Psalms 94:11.

41 He might be referring to Ibn Ezra’s exegesis on Deuteronomy 18:1.
42 Ibn Ezra’s lost commentary on the minor prophets has been mentioned in
the scholarly literature, and we need not comment on it further. See Simon, “Peshat
Exegesis of Biblical Historiography,” 197-198; Schwartz, “Did the Sun Stand Still
for Joshua? On the Doctrine of Miracles, as Mirrored in Jewish Medieval Thought”
[Hebrew], Da#at 42 (1999), 30.
43 David Kimchi’s commentary on 1 Samuel 28:24.
44 David Kimchi, supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Torah,
123b. On an interpretation of dreams with an astral orientation in Byzantine culture

see, for instance, S. V. Oberhelman, tr. and ed., The Oneirocriticon of Achmet: A Medi-
eval Greek and Arabic Treatise on the Interpretation of Dreams (Lubbok, Texas: Texas Tech
University Press, 1991), 167-170.
45 Even Sappir, 128a.
220 chapter eight
spirituality on amulets. These reservations, particularly as expressed

by Comtino, are discussed at length below.
These features, as noted, are also typical of Spanish-Provençal
culture and are not necessarily a uniquely Byzantine characteristic.
Some attest to discussions accompanying any attempt to absorb a
magic-astral outlook in rationalist and kabbalistic thought with ratio-
nal leanings, since many thinkers tend to integrate magic-astral views
into their outlook. Communion, for instance, is an important element
in a rationalist or rationalist-mystic world view, and its integration
into the magical-celestial element occupied many rationalist thinkers
both in Spain and in Byzantium. Just as Maimonides’ views on astral
magic troubled Spanish rationalists, so were they a matter of concern
for Byzantines, as we will see below.
Let us consider several typical issues in the realm of astral magic
and its integration in Byzantine theology and rationalism. These issues
appear in the writings of Judah Moskoni, Mordechai Comtino, and
Ephraim ben Gershon.
The Harmonistic Approach: Moskoni

For Judah Moskoni, Maimonides’ refusal to recognize the reality of
magic (Guide of the Perplexed 3:46) and Nahmanides’ definition of magic
as a genuine science were just different—and complementary—sides
of the same coin. This harmonistic position appears in Moskoni’s
interpretation of the scapegoat. Moskoni believed that Maimonides
had merely placed more emphasis on the psychological aspect of
repentance inspired by the scapegoat ritual, while Nahmanides was
intent on describing the concrete, utilitarian outcome of the ritual.
How did Moskoni reach this conclusion? After quoting Maimonides’
explanation of the ritual, Moskoni poses several questions:
1. The scapegoat ritual was intended to atone for the Israelites’ sins.
How does “instilling the hearts with fear,” that is, inspiring the
people to repent, amount to atonement? One can hardly assume
that atonement is a merely psychological concept.
2. Even if the purpose of the scapegoat ritual was to “affect the soul,”
this is the case as far as the “masses” were concerned. But what
are the implications for a perfect man, who is not psychologically
affected by the ritual?! This explanation is surely insufficient for
such a person.
3. Is it possible that the detailed actions of such important persons as
the priests in the scapegoat ritual were intended merely to affect

the soul?!
Moskoni, therefore, argues as follows:
May God do thus and more to me,46 lest I think that one of those worthy
to read the words of Maimonides… in this matter should believe that
Maimonides’ intention regarding the said scapegoat and the secrecy of
its ritual [was to say that they] are intended to instill fear in the soul so
that it should be moved to repentance, and that he should not suppose
of the said scapegoat and of the secrecy of its wondrous ritual that it has
another, independent, primary purpose. That purpose makes it necessary
for grave sins to be expiated first, through the essence and secrecy of the
said wondrous ritual, and its outcome will sustain the level of the elect
who know the secrets of reality. Second, and incidentally, there is the
added purpose of instilling fear into the soul, that it should be moved to
repentance, and its outcome will sustain the malady of the masses who
are not proficient in knowledge of the secrets of reality.47
According to Moskoni, whoever understands Maimonides’ explanation
as concerned merely with psychology is doing the sage of Fustat an
injustice. Maimonides concealed the essential purpose of the scape-
goat ritual—its ability to counteract negative astral influence—and
revealed only the incidental purpose—its psychological effect. Mos-
koni identifies Maimonides’ “essential purpose” with the explication
given by his own teacher, Shemariah Ikriti, which in turn he sees as
identical to that of Nahmanides. “Know that there is no difference
between the opinion of the said master regarding this secret and the
opinion of Nahmanides…, except that they vary and differ from one
another in their opinions explaining the words of Ibn Ezra… in this
respect.”48
This conclusion has two important implications:
1. Maimonides’ “real” opinion, as Moskoni sees it, places the scape-
goat ritual in a magic-astral context: it was designed to ward off
the actions of the cause of desolation, expelling it to the desert,
“to a place whose nature resembles the nature of the cause of
deficiency and desolation.”49
2. Shemariah Ikriti also espoused magic-astral beliefs, according
46 After 1 Samuel 3:17, 2 Samuel 19:14, 1 Kings 2:23.

47 Even ha-Ezer, 307a.
48 Ibid., 306b.
49 Ibid., 307b.
222 chapter eight
to Moskoni; for Ikriti, the scapegoat “was a sacrifice in a secret

ritual, necessary to prepare the nation for success and reception
of supernal influence so that the Shekhinah should rest upon it.”50
Hence, astral magic also acts in a defensive manner, that is, it chan-
nels the negative “influx” onto the scapegoat. Moskoni’s harmonistic
position, combining the approaches of Maimonides and Nahmanides,
does not obscure the astral-magical core of his explanation of the
scapegoat ritual. A similar harmonistic attitude was evident in Jewish-
Byzantine thought even after the Ottoman conquest, as shown by the
thought of Menahem Tamar.
Negation: Comtino
We have already pointed out Comtino’s rejection of astral magic
as idolatry, on which I would now like to elaborate, presenting the
exegetical bases of his approach. According to Comtino, “bringing
down spirituality” was rejected not only in the second commandment,
which prohibits idolatry, but also in the first:
And as the configuration [of the heavens] will decree what it will, in
accordance with nature, as the Creator of All allowed it, and it has no
power to add or to detract anything, it is therefore useless to address
any request to it, for it has no power to change. To that end [people]
devised ruses, to fashion images at certain times in order to bring super-
nal force down to earth, by which means they will lessen the evil [that
befalls them] or increase the good [that befalls them], as they believe.
Therefore did the Lord begin with the very first commandment, “I the
Lord am your God,” meaning that your welfare depends upon me, not
upon the heavenly configuration.51
Later, Tamar argued that the prohibition on images appears already

in the second commandment, and argued that makers of images
“deny sovereignty from God, may He be blessed, and deliver it to
the heavenly images.”52 Comtino then claimed that the sin of the
golden calf was due to an erroneous interpretation of the prohibition
50 Ibid., 306b.
51 Comtino, Commentary on the Torah, 78b. Further on, Comtino wrote, “And
the verse, ‘You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image’ (Exodus 20:3) [means]
for your purposes, to bring down supernal power upon yourself” (ibid., 81a).
52 Tamar, supercommentary on Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Torah, 123b.
on fashioning an image, as evident in the—wrong—belief that the

prohibition only forbids making representations of God, but not the
bringing down of astral forces.
So it seems that of those images, which they believed could be used

to bring down supernal power, some had to be fashioned in gold, and
some in silver, and some in other metals, and some in wood, and some
in stone, and some in dough. But apparently they believed that this
image was useless unless made of gold, therefore they made all three
of gold. And since Israel were content with this and believed that their
will had been done and that they would survive and would not commit
any violation, he [Aaron] made them an image that they believed would
do good and harm, [believing that] Scripture forbade the making of a
sculptured image or any likeness only of God, according to the plain
meaning [of the text]; they would thereby believe that they would know
concealed things, since according to the belief of the ancients, it had
power to do good and harm.53
Thus, in Comtino’s view, bringing down supernal forces was rooted
in ancient idol-worship. The idolaters appointed a certain celestial
body to be responsible for the various technical crafts, “just as they
established Demeter for working the land, she being the god of that
craft.”54 The attraction of heavenly influences came into being to
take advantage of such influence, in order to ensure one’s success in
one’s earthly affairs. According to Comtino, the monotheistic God
took the place of such astral powers, and it was therefore forbidden
to bring them down by magic.
Here, however, the paucity of the surviving material severely limits
the possibilities of interpretation. It is indeed true that references to
positive applications of astral magic are rare in Comtino’s existing
commentaries.55 Whereas the abundance of material from Spanish-Pro-
53 Ibid., 100a.
54 Ibid., 88b. See also Ram Ben-Shalom, “Myth and Classical Mythology in
the Historical Consciousness of Medieval Spanish Jewry” [Hebrew], Zion 66 (2001),
456ff. Various scholars have discussed the links between the gods of mythology and
the signs during the Renaissance. See, for instance, Yates, Giordano Bruno and the
Hermetic Tradition, 238.
55 One example relates to the story of Balaam: “[Balaam said to Balak, ‘Build me
seven altars here’ (Numbers 23:1)—because the Lord… created seven servants in the
supernal world, each having several spheres, and their common feature is that they
have different paths and are eccentric, inclined to the north and the south—except
for the sun. Moreover, they stand still twice and change direction—except for the two
luminaries. Hence, they have different influences in the lower world, and since the
224 chapter eight
vençal culture furthered the argument that the prohibition of talismanic

magic as idolatry was effective only on an exoteric level, or dependent
on the practitioner’s intention, we lack sufficient Byzantine material
to venture such an argument. In the context of Spanish-Provençal
culture, we can argue for an esoteric tradition, and can consequently
locate various thinkers on a “map” of esoteric-exegetical use of astral
magic, even though the esoteric level is only rarely evident on the
surface. Although we have indeed discerned an esoteric element in
the Byzantine attitude to astral magic, it is doubtful whether we can
explain the prohibition in this way.
Magic and Kabbalistic Abundance: Ephraim ben Gershon

We have already noted that Ephraim ben Gershon did not think twice
about including in his homilies material that is obviously kabbalistic,
often describing the status and place of kabbalistic abundance in
distinctly magic-astral terms. He thereby follows, to some extent, in
Nahmanides’ path. In a homily devoted to Abraham the physician,
Ephraim describes a process that is typically theurgic:
You who are now perusing my writings know that, when the world was
created, all the supernal and nether configurations were perfected and
mated in the seventh, all under one receiving and affecting form, and the
entire world then became one under one master. Tiferet above extended
below to the wellspring of the Shekhinah, which is in the nether world,
as it is said, “The heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool”
[Isaiah 66:1]. Lo and behold, God is one, and the world is one, and
all is in its true ordered path, until Adam came and spoilt all channels
and upset this alliance.56
This passage focuses on drawing the sefirot closer. The course of the
emanation descending from tiferet to malkhut is disrupted due to the
sin. Ephraim then states, “because the Sabbath is the mystery of
the power stretching from the supreme sefirot to ‘adonay,’ which is
human soul is supernal and is supported by one of the powers of the animative soul,
though not mingled with it, they determine its affairs. And since in the mystery of the
calculation the third is like the seventh, he commanded [to prepare] three heptads,
and when he finished giving each one its due, a spirit of knowledge rested upon him.
And the erudite will understand” (ibid., 147b). According to this interpretation, the
astral influx can be channeled in such a way as to receive prophecy.
56 Homilies, London Ms., British Museum 379, 173a.
the mystery of the union of all the sefirot.”57 He describes the vari-
ous stages or hypostases of abundance through the term ma#arekhet
[configuration], whose kabbalistic use (Sefer Ma#arekhet ha-Elohut) [The
Book of the Divine Configuration] originates apparently in astrology.
Does this hint to the celestial configuration? In a homily to a groom,
Ephraim dealt at length with the action of thought, when relating to
the implications of thought during the sexual act. In this context, his
description exceeds the bounds of theurgy and fits the magic-astral
model of drawing down abundance to the terrestrial world:
Know that, while the spring of water extends from a high to a low
place, a power exists that can bring this water up to a high place, as
against the water’s wellspring. Thus do kabbalists know that thoughts
originate in the rational soul, which emanates from the supreme. And
thought has the power to strip off and rise and reach its source, and
when reaching its source it attains communion with the supernal light
from which it came, and both become one. When thought once again
stretches down from on high, all becomes one line in the imagination,
and the supernal light comes down through the power of thought that
draws it down, and the Shekhinah is found down below. The clear light
then spreads to the thinker’s location. So did early pietists [hasidim rishonim]
reach communion with the supremes through thought in order to draw
down the supreme light, and all beings would thus grow and multiply
and be blessed in accordance with the power of thought.58
Drawing down the light through a communion of thought during the
sexual act will, for instance, affect the semen and the embryo. This
model of drawing down abundance to the terrestrial realm explains
why the people of Israel are holy seed. Bringing down the abundance,
then, has a utilitarian dimension as well. Yet, Ephraim is not return-
ing to the classic model of lowering the abundance, but creating an
integrated theurgic-magic model. In fact, what the passage describes
is the drawing of emanation from tiferet (“line,” “supreme light”) to
malkhut (Shekhinah). Communion of thought brings malkhut down to the
level of the person striving for communion, so that the abundance
that emanates from tiferet also “comes down.” The person striving for
communion is thus fertilized by the divine emanation, following the
bringing down of the intra-divine realm. The principle of lowering
abundance through communion grants the perfects far-reaching forces
57 Ibid., 162b, describing the lowering of abundance onto the sefirah of malkhut,
which is the seventh of the lower sefirot.

58 Ibid., 233a.
226 chapter eight
for good and for bad. Ephraim Ben Gershon went on to explain at
length Balaam’s magic figure and the techniques he used:
Know that, since the holy pietists reached communion through thought
with the supremes, anything they think and intend at that time will come
to pass, whether good or bad. It was on this the sages said that “he cast
his eyes upon him and he became a heap of bones.”59 And it was on this
matter that the sages said in Ta#anit that “she should return to the dust.”60
And so the rabbis, of blessed memory, said that “whenever the sages
set their eye against one, the result was either death or poverty.”61 This
is the origin of the mystery in prayer and sacrifices, which is the secret
of communion with the supremes, and from here comes the accursed
power of wicked Balaam, about whom they would say “he whom thou
blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed” (Numbers 22:
6). Hence, he [Balaam] contemplated Israel with deep consideration,
so that his thought might reach communion with the supremes and
made his wicked wish on Israel. For this reason, he had to be precise,
“Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee to another place” (Numbers 23:27)
“thou shalt see but the utmost part of them” (Numbers 23:13), because
the villain had to consider for whom he intended good and for whom
evil. He would then bring his thought to commune with the above
and draw down the supreme power on whoever he had intended and
considered, as in “the vision of the Almighty, falling down but having
his eyes open” (Numbers 24:4) because he truly needed his eyes open.
Hence, the villain planned to make seven altars, a bullock and a ram
upon each, to bring together all the powers and sacrifice them to this
thought, so as to sustain his evil thought wherever he might wish. And
on this it was said about him, “And he brought him into a field of
vantage” (Numbers 23:14), from which the villain could observe them
to draw his evil thought upon.62
Ephraim builds Balaam’s deeds on the communion of thought, stressing
the dimension of observation. Balaam’s observations have two mean-
ings, as it were: a metaphorical meaning of study and contemplation
of the object of his deed, and another resembling an evil eye.63 Hence,
Balaam’s sacrifices serve both as a technique of concentration and
59 TB Berakhot 58a; TB Shabbat 34a; TB Bava Bathra 75a; TB Sanhedrin 100a;
Midrash on Psalms, 87b.

60 According to TB Ta#anit 24a.
61 TB Moed Kattan 17b; TB Hagigah 5b; TB Nedarim 7b; TB Sotah 46b.
62 Homilies, London Ms., British Museum 379, 234a-b.
63 The action of the evil eye in Balaam’s story has been explained in various
ways. See, for instance, Gersonides, Commentaries on the Torah [Hebrew], ed. Yaakov
Leib Levy, vol. 4 (Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook., 1996), 127; Frimer and Schwartz,
The Life and Thought of Shem Tov ibn Shaprut, 156-157, n. 97.
as a disposition for lowering celestial and divine forces (“draw down

the supreme power”). Communion with the supremes enables their
power to be lowered onto the terrestrial realm. We thus learn that the
communion of thought brings down a divine emanation indifferent
to the intention of its recipient; the emanation can be used to attain
sacred aims, such as the holiness of the pious in their sexual act. It
can also be used to hurt others, as in Balaam’s act. A kabbalistic64 and
magic-astral layer join together in Balaam’s story. Ephraim continued a
typical Spanish outlook that Nahmanides formulated in unambiguous
terms, which combines theurgic and magic-astral dimensions.
Conclusions
Although it resembles western creativity, and particularly in its Span-

ish-Provencal variety, we found that Byzantine creativity in the late
medieval period assumes unique form. As this chapter showed, one
of the fruitful expressions of Byzantine creativity is the perception
of astral magic as a distinctive theological element and as typical of
rationalism. In the integration of rationality and astral magic as well
as in other matters, Byzantine thought both before and after the Otto-
man conquest is close to Spanish rationality. Other features, such as
the integration of the kabbalistic-theurgic model and the kabbalistic
magic-astral model, also attest to this closeness. For instance, contrary
to the cultural endeavor in Ashkenaz, which is seldom tied in any deep
way to Spanish rationality, Byzantine philosophy shows deep inter-
est in the wording and the style of this rationality. The magic-astral
outlooks that are part of this rationality also substantiate this closeness
to some extent. This literature, however, still awaits redemption.
64According to Ephraim ben Gershon, the explanation of the terafim story is the
impure spirit (Homilies, London Ms., British Museum 379, 95b)
astral magic and the philosophy of science 229
EPILOGUE
ASTRAL MAGIC AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
This book considered two scientific traditions that coexisted in the late
Middle Ages: the physical-Aristotelian and the tradition acknowledg-
ing phenomena such as segullot, magic, astrology, and alchemy. The
medieval scientific mind still awaits historical research, given that many
thinkers upheld both these traditions simultaneously. This phenomenon
could perhaps be understood in light of the esoteric style prevalent in
medieval Jewish thought,1 which presented non-Aristotelian tradition
as an esoteric layer of ideas and Aristotelian tradition as reflecting
adherence to scientific conventions. According to this view, thinkers
concealed their openness to scientific traditions that differed from
conventional approaches because these traditions were spurned by
contemporary intellectuals. I wish to deal with this issue and some
of its implications at the closure of the book.
Magic and a Developmental Outlook
This book may have implications for the historiographic controversy

concerning the role of the magical element in the development of
the new science in the seventeenth century.2 One of the most highly
criticized developmental models relates to the thesis postulated by
Frances Yates.3 According to this thesis, the magical conceptions that
enjoyed such unprecedented success in various Renaissance schools
ultimately resulted in the rise of the new experimental science that
flourished during the seventeenth century. The Hermetic and kab-
balistic-Christian traditions directed attention to the manipulation of
1 Strauss, Persecution and the Art of Writing; Dov Schwartz, Contradiction and Concealment
in Medieval Jewish Thought [Hebrew] (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 2002).

2 See, for instance Robert S. Westman and James E. Mcguire, Hermeticism and the
Scientific Revolution (Los Angeles: University of California, 1977).

3 See, for instance, Frances Amelia Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradi-
tion (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964); idem, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment
(London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1972); idem, The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan
Age (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1983).
230 epilogue
nature. They thereby opposed the approach striving to gain insights

about nature but is indifferent to controlling it or to the attainment of
any utilitarian technology. These insights came into being by relying
on preliminary theoretical assumptions, in the established pattern of
the Aristotelian science that had been dominant for centuries. Yates
goes so far as formulating a series of hypotheses stating that leading
figures upholding the experimental approach knew magic-ocult sources
and were influenced by them.
One of Yates’ major critics is Brian Vickers. Following is a summary
of his main claims and his critique:
1. Occult trends are presented in Yates’s writings as the focus of

Renaissance culture, but they were only one current in a rich and
multivalent culture.
2. The statement that these currents made an essential contribution
to the emergence of the new science is groundless, since it does
not rely on concrete evidence.4
The issue most pertinent to our concern in Vickers’ detailed critique

is his discussion of Francis Bacon. Vickers emphasizes that occult
movements have no scientific significance in Bacon’s times5 if their
actual influence upon him cannot be demonstrated. Motifs linked to
mystery, such as the wings of God, were indeed exposed in Bacon’s
writings, but these images had been widespread during this period and
cannot be ascribed to the specific influence of any particular current
on Bacon.6 According to Vickers, a definite distinction is required
between Bacon’s outlook and the occult approaches: Bacon supported
the ideal of knowledge for all, whereas these currents championed a
4 Brian Vickers, “Frances Yates and the Writing of History,” Journal of Modern
History 51 (1979), 315-316. See also idem, “On the Goal of the Occult Sciences
in the Renaissance,” in Georg Kauffmann, ed., Die Renaissance im Blick der Nationen
Europas (Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz, 1991), 51-93; idem, “Critical Reactions to the
Occult Sciences during the Renaissance,” in Edna Ullman-Margalit, ed., The Scientific
Enterprise (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1992), 43-92.
5 Since his critique focuses on Yates’ The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, Vickers relates
to the Rosicrucian movement in particular. His comments, however, are valid for
Renaissance occultism in general, as intimated at the end of his critique. See also
Brian Vickers, “Francis Bacon and the Progress of Knowledge,” Journal of the History
of Ideas 95 (1992), 495-518.
6 Vickers, “Frances Yates and the Writing of History,” 311.
strong esoteric trend.7 Vickers’ conclusion is unequivocal: no proof

exists of the influence of occult movements, such as the Rosicrucians,
on the development of science.8
Vickers denies esoteric interpretations of religious thinkers, unless
accompanied by explicit declarations or clear evidence. Yates claims
that Bacon’s opposition to alchemy and to other occult concerns
relied on an esoteric trend that feared open agreement with occult
approaches, whereas Vickers argues that as long as we have no cause
for suspecting a witch-hunt, no such interpretation should be attrib-
uted to Bacon’s approach.9 In my view, this approach seems to play
down the problematic status of magic in the centuries that preceded
the Renaissance, at least in the Jewish context discussed below. The
closeness of magic to idolatry resulted in its wrapping in a cloak of
mystery, but magic had always played a theological and hermeneuti-
cal role in the understanding of the holy sources. In other words, a
tradition of esoteric formulations concerning the magical realm could
be expected.
Does this controversy involve any implications for the understanding
of the Jewish world in the late Middle Ages? We know that medieval
Jewish intellectuals and philosophers did not conduct experiments as
such, yet magic and magic-astral practices were a foremost concern
of the Jewish world at this time. In practical terms, their use was
widespread for healing purposes, and theologically, a biblical herme-
neutics resting on magic developed around it. Astral magic also often
donned a garb of antiquity and of mystery. A brief discussion on the
validity of Yates’ thesis for Jewish medieval material is the topic of
the next section.
Magic and Esotericism in Judaism
Occult traditions in Jewish rationalism, particularly astral magic and

segullot, developed in an esoteric climate for a simple reason: their
similarity with idolatry (particularly in the case of astral magic). Idolatry
had been characterized, in this interpretation, by the drawing down of
7 Ibid., 308-310.
8 Ibid., 313.
9 Ibid., 308-309.
232 epilogue
stellar spirituality upon effigies, and opponents of astral magic accused

its practitioners of idol worship.10 But another reason that contributed
to the esoteric climate cannot be ignored: the perception of magic as
an (ancient) science characteristic of intellectuals. For many medieval
thinkers, esoteric language is inherent to the character and style of
the intellectual. These two elements of esotericism intertwine for at
least three hundred years, from Judah Halevi and Abraham ibn Ezra
and up until Jewish philosophy after the expulsion from Spain. When
occult tradition shifted to the Kabbalah, it definitely assumed a myste-
rious garb.11 Kabbalah’s very nature is mystery and concealment, all
the more so when astral magic thought is transferred to the drawing
down of abundance from the divine, theosophical world.
The cover of mystery was accentuated even further when this issue
emerged in the context of Ibn Ezra’s exegetic endeavor in the four-
teenth century. The pouring of a magic astral element into the very
core of Jewish theology compelled an occult language. Rationalists
and scientists in the mid-fourteenth century tried to decode this secret
language and, in their interpretations, granted legitimation to the very
act of concealment. Parenthetically, note that the phenomenon of
numerous supercommentaries to Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Torah
in the fourteenth century aided in the understanding of this enigmatic
commentator but also created difficulties. They were helpful because,
given the lack of sufficient tools to understand Ibn Ezra’s language
precisely, there is a certain value in a commentary written “only” two
hundred years after the original. The supercommentaries, however,
were written in a cultural climate unlike Ibn Ezra’s Andalusian sur-
roundings. In any event, this interpretation and the accompanying
controversies12 presented esotericism as a necessary style of the occult
tradition of Jewish rationalism.13
The concealing style slides into Jewish thought during the Renais-
sance. Italy was not discussed in this book, but the other cultures that
preserved the Spanish style prevalent before and after the expulsion
preserved the concealment tradition in the sense that magic-astral

12 See above, ch. 4..
13 See also Schwartz, Astral Magic, index s.v. “esoteric writing”; Moshe Halbertal,
Concealment and Revelation: The Secret and its Boundaries in Medieval Jewish Tradition [Hebrew]
(Jerusalem: Orna Hass, 2001), 36-40.
discussions are limited, despite their vast theological implications. This

book attests to entrenched magical traditions impinging on Jewish
theology, although traces are widely scattered.
The discussion in Chapter Six showed that Solomon Franco was
willing to declare he did not agree with Ibn Ezra’s magic-astral views,
and he was only concerned with their disclosure. Abraham Altabib
admitted to astrological and magic-astral conceptions but objected to
their exaggerated implementation. These twists and turns strength-
ened the esotericism of astral magic among its supporters. Applying
the magic-astral models and the models of segullot to the most sacred
theological texts, even while replacing stellar with divine emanation,
points to potential opposition to revelation and enthusiastic support
for concealment.
Wavering between Traditions
Many rationalist thinkers in the medieval Jewish world adopted both

world views—the Aristotelian approach and the realm of experience
(astrology, magic, and segullot)—simultaneously.14 Thirteenth century
rationalists, for instance, do not report difficulties in endorsing magic-
astral healing, although a tense inner conflict seems ostensibly inevi-
table. The conflict was also avoided because of the compartmental-
ization of medicine that, as a field based on pharmacology, rests on
experience. Rationalists dealing with healing knew that the techniques
they used were not always compatible with Aristotelian physical laws.
Maimonides’ pharmacological outlook, as noted, also relied on segullot.
The use of astral magic, however, in the sense of a step toward the
recognition of astrology, is certainly incompatible with the Aristotelian
tradition on which they relied. The focus of this work is on rationalists;
mystics and alchemists of various types created a closed society based
on their own discoveries and the ensuing theological implications. In
this sense, the occult tradition developed by groups of mystics could
almost be described through the term paradigm. These groups have
left many texts on segullot and magical formulae.15 It is the rational-
ists that concern us, however, who appreciated the Aristotelian world
14 I use the term experience as opposed to experiment, which enables negative
feedback.
15 Various texts from the Middle Ages relating to alchemy appeared in Raphael
Patai, Jewish Alchemists (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994), 95ff.
234 epilogue
view and were still not deterred from using methods belonging to the
magical realm.
Many rationalists tried to dispel the tension by claiming that
astrology has a bearing on the material-utilitarian realm but has no
essential link with true knowledge of the universe. It is precisely such
knowledge, however, that leads to the immortality of the soul. Yet,
the rationalists we discussed above presented astral magic as crucial
to their explanation of the biblical canon.16 The forefather of late
medieval Jewish-Aristotelian rationalism, Maimonides, had argued that
the Torah teaches not only the way to the constitution of a safe and
just society but also the eternal truths. Circles of fourteenth century
rationalists then proceeded to base the Torah’s innermost mysteries
on astral magic. Nevertheless, no conflict emerged between these
two world views. In most of the Jewish world, these two traditions
developed side by side, and this is how they reached the threshold of
the Renaissance.
The most important conclusion emerging from this book, then, is
that the history of Jewish intellectual creativity from the twelfth century
until the early modern period can be written not only from an Aristo-
telian perspective, as has been done so far in books on the history of
Jewish thought. Magic, astrology, and segullot are legitimate criteria for
rearranging the conceptual material and its pertinent interpretation.17
An essential difference, however, characterizes the rationalists’ atti-
tude to the two views. The Aristotelian world view was perceived as
inherently linked to human perfection. Knowledge of certain fields
(physics, metaphysics, and so forth) enables individuals to reach the
heights of the vita contemplativa, and in many systems also grants them
immortality. Religious rationalism in the medieval world integrated this
knowledge into theological perfection. By contrast, rationalists related
to a world view pretending to rely on experience as an efficacious tool,
and even as a model essential to the understanding of religion’s ritual
aspect, but generally without any direct bearing on the individual’s
philosophical perfection.
At various times during the Middle Ages, a form of rationalism
emerged that could be called “open.” Did a rationalism that adopted
“experiential” and magical traditions help in the internalization of

17 See Dov Schwartz, “Is It Possible to Write a History of Jewish Thought?,” The
Review of Rabbinic Judaism 6, 2-3 (2003), 285-300.
science among Jews in the modern period? Let us not forget that
Jewish philosophy in the sixteenth century—in the Ottoman empire,
in Ashkenaz, and to some extent even in Italy—relied largely on a
medieval world view.18 This interesting question demands a compre-
hensive study of its own.
The analysis of the experiential tradition in magic, alchemy, and
astrology enables a new and refreshing interpretation of religious
thought among the Jewish intellectual elites in the Middle Ages. The
cultural-historical reality is thus built layer upon layer, each one expos-
ing a rich spectrum of options for interpreting the various periods in
their light. Not only is this a broadening of horizons, but perhaps an
alternative way of writing the history of Jewish philosophy.
18 See above, ch. 7, for extensive clarification of this assumption.
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INDEX
Abrahamov, Binyamin 54 Baneth, David H 2, 4, 5, 160

Abrams, Daniel 69 Barkai, Ron 25, 49, 175
Ackerman Smoller, Laura 34 Benedikt, Binyamin Zeev 123, 128,
“Active Intellect” 7, 111, 143, 144 129
Alchemy 53 (n. 61), 229, 231, 233 Betz, Hans Dieter xi
(n. 15), 235 Blood 25, 31, 65, 58-59 (n. 7), 61 (n.
Altmann, Alexander 138, 140, 148, 16), 87 (n. 91), 106, 109, 119. See
150. also ransom.
Aloni, Nehemya 37 Bolton, Robert 48
Altar 5, 19 (n. 58), 23, 24, 58, 59, Bozóky, Edina 62
70 (n. 37), 76, 78 (n. 66), 87 (n. 91),
108, 113, 143 (n. 51), 144, 162, Candelabrum 19 (n. 58), 23, 86,
215, 223 (n. 55), 226 112, 218
Ancient wisdom 6, 8, 122, 148, 149, Cherubim 6, 8, 14, 19 (n. 58), 20 (n.
152, 192, 206 61), 22-23, 77 (n. 64), 107
Angel, angels 13, 16, 61, 63 (n. 21), Christianity 1, 2 (n. 3), 36, 37 (n. 22),
72, 75-76, 84, 85, 105, 114, 115, 114, 115, 123, 197, 200, 203, 230
116, 117, 121 (n. 121), 155, 159, Climate 12, 14, 82, 137 (n. 33), 159,
171, 174, 199, 214, 216 163, 165, 180, 194, 202, 231, 232
Antinomianism 25 (n. 74), 82, 104- Cohen-Alloro, Dorit 88, 157
105, 128, 169, 195, 198 Commandments xii, 1, 2-3, 5, 6,
Ascetic, asceticism 110 (n. 74), 195 18, 24-25, 34 (n. 11), 50, 52, 76,
Astral magic ix, x, xii- xiv, 1, 2, 3, 5, 93, 104, 108, 111 (n. 81), 163, 175,
6, 8, 9, 10, 14, 17, 18-19, 20 (n. 61), 179, 200, 201 (n. 75), 210, 222.
21 (n. 63), 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 31 See also altar, cherubim, ephod,
(n. 7), 33, 36, 37 (n. 23), 38 (n. 24), Sabbath, scapegoat, Temple.
39, 40, 44, 45, 47-50, 51 (n. 55), 52, Conjunction x, 7, 11, 12 (n. 36),
53, 54, 55, 56, 63, 64, 69, 71, 73, 13- 14, 21, 44, 82 (n. 77), 94, 99 (n.
75 (n. 57), 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 33), 112, 113, 131, 156, 206, 209,
87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92 (n. 5), 99 (n. 214, 215
31), 95, 96, 98, 100, 101, 103, 106, Copenhaver, Brian xi
108, 109, 113, 117, 120, 121, 122, Creation ix, 10 (n. 24), 11, 72, 73,
124, 125-127, 128, 129, 130 (n. 13), 80, 99 (n. 33), 113 (n. 89), 116, 117,
131, 132, 135-136, 137-141, 145, 145, 149, 155, 156, 178, 186, 191,
146, 147, 148, 149, 151-152, 153, 194, 195, 223 (n. 55), 224
154, 156, 157, 158, 161, 162-165, Cumont, Franz 130
170, 171, 174, 176, 177, 178, 201,
205, 206, 207-211, 213, 214, 216- Dan, Joseph 20, 60, 63, 75, 95, 104
217, 219-220, 222, 223-224, 227, Devekut 215. See also conjunction.
229, 231-232, 233, 234. See also Devils 62, 219
devils, talismans, supreme power, Din (sefirah) 57 (n. 4), 59, 60 (n. 11),
terafim. 70, 76, 84,
Astrolabe 20, 50, 97, 207, 208 “Drawing down” ix, xi, 4, 8, 9, 11,
Attributes, divine 61, 71, 74, 84, 14, 15-16, 17-18, 20, 23, 26, 91,
161, 194 (n. 54), 200 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99, 103, 105,
107, 109, 110, 111, 120, 213, 215,
248 index
217, 225, 231, 232 attributes.

Dream 50, 142, 143, 147, 219 (n. Goetschel, Roland 21, 60
44) Gold See metals.
Goldstein, Bernard 145
Efros, Israel 37, 43 Golem 117
Elkayyam, Abraham 78 Gottlieb, Ephraim 70, 71, 75, 186,
Enoch. See Hermes. 212
Ensof 70, 72 Gross, Henri 135
Ephod 18 (n. 57), 19, 109, 151, 152,
208 Halkin, Abraham 148, 163, 193
Esotericism, esoteric writing 1-2, 3, Hansen, Bert 126, 139
9, 19, 21 (n. 63), 78, 79, 89, 90, 69 Harvey, Zeev xiii, 13, 42, 81, 112,
(n. 36), 98, 100, 105, 128, 188, 189, 125, 144, 151, 152, 153
193, 196, 200, 201, 217, 218, 224, Heinemann, Yitzhak 2, 23, 27, 104,
229, 231, 232, 233. 176
Experiential, Experiential Science Hermes, Hermeticism x, xi- xii, 7,
28, 40, 42, 47, 48, 52, 128, 146, 8-9, 21 (n. 63), 26, 28 (n. 2), 33, 34
147 (n. 61), 207, 234, 235 (nn. 11,12), 35, 48 (n. 46), 56, 82,
93, 95, 127, 137 (n. 33), 149-150,
Farber, Asi 63 152, 153, 163, 165, 170, 175, 229
Faur, Yosef ha-Levi 33 Hershman, Abraham 114
Feldman, Aryeh 45, 52, 61, 137 Hesed 57 (n. 4), 59, 87
Feldman, W. M. 42 Hjaerpe, Jan 35
Festugière, Andre-Jean xi Horowitz, Carmi 78
Fire xi, 4, 5, 21, 30 (n. 5), 57, 58, 61 Husik, Isaac 193
(n. 16), 70, 72, 73, 76, 87, 95, 96, Hyman, Arthur 39
112, 113 (n. 89), 134 (n. 29), 143
Flint, Valerie I. J. 29 Idel, Moshe xiii, 2, 7, 13, 20, 21,
Flood 58 (n. 5), 93, 99 (n. 33), 143, 23, 26, 33, 34, 37, 38, 42, 48, 49,
216, 217 50, 54, 59, 60, 68, 69, 74, 75, 78,
Forecasting 108 (n. 64), 129, 143 81, 87, 88, 95, 100, 118, 120, 125,
Frazer, James 62 144, 152, 157, 161, 164, 183, 207,
Freudenthal, Gad 41, 85, 141, 145, 211, 212
146, 148 Idolatry xii, 3, 9, 14-16, 17-18, 19,
Frimer Norman 36, 53, 120, 121, 21, 28 (n. 2), 32, 33, 38, 44, 47, 62,
142, 226 63 (n. 21), 86 (n. 89), 91, 92-93, 95,
97, 100, 101, 102, 103, 112, 125,
Gandz, Solomon 97 126, 129 (n. 13), 133, 137, 140,
Geiger, Abraham 130 145, 154, 163, 170, 178, 208, 219,
God 3-6, 8, 9-10, 12, 13, 14, 15 (n. 222, 224, 231
46), 16, 17, 18-19 (n. 58), 21, 22, Imagination 29 (n. 3), 30 (n. 5), 50-
24, 52, 56, 58, 59 (n. 11), 61 (n. 51, 101, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119,
14), 65, 68 (n. 35), 75, 76, 80, 81, 141, 142, 147, 158, 213, 219, 225
82, 86, 92, 93, 94, 97, 98 (n. 26), Incense x, 10, 19 (n. 58), 23, 30, 31,
99, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106 (n. 58), 37 (n. 22), 56, 80 (n. 68), 93, 94,
107 (n. 61,62), 109 (n. 73, 74), 111, 108, 125, 132, 139, 145, 148 (n.
112, 113, 116, 118 (n. 105), 134, 62), 154, 155, 161, 162, 216-217
147, 150, 151, 154, 173, 178, 182, Incest 175
183, 187, 188, 195, 197, 210, 211, Interpretation, reading (allegorical,
212, 214, 215, 216 (n. 31), 217, astrological, Christological,
221, 222, 223, 224, 230. See also symbolic, literal) xii, 2, 5, 9-10,
index 249
13 (n. 39), 14 (n. 44), 18, 19, 20 Kraemer, Joel 42, 48

(n. 61), 21 (n. 63), 22, 23, 24, 34 Kreisel, Hayyim 27, 142, 159, 174
(n. 11), 52, 55, 57 (n. 4), 58, 60 (n.
12), 61, 62 (n. 19), 63, 65, 68, 69, Lamb 24, 215
71, 73, 79, 83, 84 (n. 3), 87, 96, Land of Israel 7, 16 (n. 48), 24, 25
97, 98, 100, 101, 105, 106 (n. 57), (n. 74), 81, 82-83, 86, 112, 137 (n.
107, 108, 109 (n. 73), 111 (n. 81), 33), 159, 182, 189 (n. 36)
117, 118 (n. 105), 122, 131 (n. 21), Langermann, Yitzhak 27, 33, 38,
135, 140, 141, 144, 147 (n. 60), 41, 44, 60, 85, 146, 167, 172, 174
150, 151, 153 (n. 77), 155 (n. 88), Leibowitz, J. O. 41
157, 158, 159 (n. 91), 160 (n. 94), Lelli, Fabrizio 37
161, 162, 163 (n. 103), 164, 167 (n. Lippincott, Kristen 35
1), 173 (n. 11), 177, 193, 195, 198, Lloyd, G. E. R. 48
199, 200, 201, 206, 208, 209, 215,
216, 217, 218, 219 (n. 44), 220, Malkhut (sefirah) 59, 64 (n. 23), 70,
222, 223, 231, 232, 234, 235 71, 74 (n. 52), 76, 83, 212 (n. 23),
Iron. See alchemy, metals. 224, 225
Israel 4, 5, 16, 21, 23, 61, 65, 83, 84 Malter, Henry 13, 184
(n. 80), 94, 98, 103, 104, 108, 109, Marcus, S. 41
110 (n. 74), 111, 112, 113, 134, Margalit, David 47, 56
150, 152, 173, 182, 184, 188, 211, Marquet, Yves 9, 35
212 (n. 23), 215, 220, 223, 225, Mars 53, 61, 69, 72 (n. 44), 92, 104,
226. See also Land of Israel, Jewish 106, 110, 118, 119, 121, 129, 130,
people. 149, 152 (n. 74), 171, 173, 175, 211
Marx, Alexander 28, 37, 153, 184
Jacobs, Louis 125 Masses. See esoteric writing.
Jerusalem 109-110 (n. 74), 159 (n. Matt, Daniel 64
91) Medicine, medical 2, 5, 27, 40, 41,
Jewish people 84, 85, 175 (n. 18), 42, 43, 44, 47, 48, 50, 77, 80, 81,
178 82, 83, 125-126, 127, 128, 129,
Jospe, Raphael 10, 11, 119 132, 133, 135, 136, 137 (n. 33),
138, 142 (n. 47), 146, 148 (n. 62),
Kabbalah 36, 54, 55, 56, 63, 64, 66, 150, 151, 153, 154, 155, 158, 161,
67, 68 (n. 34), 71 (nn. 41, 42), 78 163, 165, 233
(n. 65), 79, 83 (n. 78), 88, 124, 182, Mercury 10, 156-157
185, 186, 190, 191, 192-193, 195, Messianism 2, 192, 197. See also
196, 199, 207, 212, 216 (n. 52), paradise.
219, 220, 224, 225, 227, 232. See Metals 17 (n. 54), 32, 96, 107, 129,
also sefirot. 132, 136, 223. See also alchemy.
Kalam 193 Moon 29 (n. 3), 31, 42, 53, 81 (n.
Kellner, Menachem 135 74), 85, 131, 140, 154, 155, 171,
Keter (sefirah) 59 (n. 11) 209
Khvolson, Daniil Avraamovitch 35 Morgenstern, Julian 92
Kieckhefer, Richard ix Motzkin, Aryeh Leo 1
Kiener, Ronald 104
Klatzkin, Jac. 19 Necromancer 28, 29 (n. 3), 51, 101,
Klein-Braslavy, Sara 142 103 (n. 46), 117, 119 (n. 110), 131
Knowledge of the future 32 (n. 8), Nemoy, Leon 27
50, 108 (n. 65), 142, 159. See also Neoplatonism x, xi, 91, 112, 113,
forecasting, prediction. 122, 123 (n. 2), 150 (n. 68)
Koah ha-kibbul 218 (n. 39) Neusner, Jacob xiv, 122
250 index
Nuriel, Abraham 30, 39 Robertson-Smith W. 106

Rosenberg, Shalom 95, 181, 185
Odor 48, 58, 60, 70, 109, 159, 161, Rosenthal, Franz 115
217 Rosin, David 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 19
Ottoson, Per-Gunnar xiii
Sabba, Sabians 29 (n. 3), 33, 35, 93
Paradise 117 (n. 104) Sabbath 105, 170, 224
Paschal 215 Safran, Bezalel 87
Patai, Raphael 233 Sambursky, Samuel x
Pedayah, Haviva 64 Saperstein, Marc 192, 202
Perles, Joseph 34, 81, 137 Sarachek, Joseph 125
Pharmacology 154 (n. 78), 216, 233. Scapegoat 61, 62, 65 (n. 29), 67, 69,
See also experiential. 72 (n. 44), 75, 84, 114, 116, 141,
Pines, Shlomo xiii, 1, 2, 3, 13, 20, 158, 163, 171, 173, 174, 175, 177,
29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 42, 81, 200-201, 220-222
108, 115, 125, 144, 151, 152 Schlossberg, Eliezer 16, 214
Pingree, David 35 Scholem, Gershom 8, 58, 59, 65, 75,
Plagues 61, 95, 100, 111, 216, 217 78, 211
Planets ix, x, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 24 Schwartz, Dov 2, 7, 16, 25, 26, 34,
(n. 71), 29 (n. 3), 39 (n. 26), 86, 93, 36, 37, 38, 41, 44, 45, 47, 50, 51,
94, 104, 106, 110, 112 (n. 84), 113, 52, 53, 60, 62, 64, 65, 68, 82, 83,
118, 119, 136, 139, 149, 152, 155, 85, 89, 92, 98, 100, 107, 112, 120,
159, 170, 171, 172, 174, 177, 207, 121, 123, 140, 141, 142, 146, 148,
218. See also Sun, Moon, Mars, 149, 150, 151, 158, 163, 164, 165,
Mercury. 167, 168, 169, 170, 174, 176, 177,
Prediction 29 (n. 3), 31, 48 (n. 46), 179, 181, 184, 185, 189, 193, 195,
51, 103 (n. 46), 107, 108, 109, 111, 198, 200, 201, 208, 209, 214, 217,
129, 130, 131, 132, 138-139, 141, 219, 226, 229, 232, 234
142, 143, 144, 147, 158, 159 Schweid, Eliezer xiii, 1, 13, 42, 81,
Priestly vestments 141, 144, 153, 125, 144, 152
208 Science ix (n. 1), xiii, 6, 7, 8, 18, 21,
Prophecy 50, 94, 109 (n. 73), 132, 27, 28, 30 (n. 5), 36, 39, 40, 43, 46,
141, 142, 143-144, 147, 157, 160, 48, 49, 51 (n. 55), 60 (n. 11), 73, 91,
161 (n. 97), 162, 190, 199, 213, 96, 124, 131, 135, 139, 140, 145,
216, 224 (n. 55) 146, 147, 149 (n. 66), 153, 155,
Prophet 2, 32 (n. 8), 75 (n. 55), 76, 162, 182, 183, 184, 190, 191, 192,
81 (n. 74), 132, 142, 143-144, 158- 196, 206, 207, 208, 209-211, 214,
159, 160, 196, 197, 199, 208, 213, 220, 229, 230, 231, 232, 234. See
219 also experiential.
Sefirot 55, 56, 57 (n. 4), 59, 60, 61,
Ransom 25, 30 (n. 5), 57 (n. 4), 58 63 (n. 21), 64, 66, 69, 72, 73, 74,
(n. 7), 61, 63, 65, 69, 77, 78 (n. 64), 75, 76, 78 (n. 65), 79, 82 (n. 77), 83,
109, 110, 111, 112, 156, 158. See 87, 88, 111, 183 (n. 12), 212-213
also scapegoat. (n. 23), 224-225. See also ensof, din,
Ravitzky, Aviezer 7, 25, 64, 113, hokhmah, hesed, yesod, keter, malkhut,
128, 151, 152, 170, 186, 190, 211, tiferet.
215 Segullah, segullot 28, 40-44, 46-49, 52,
Reasons for the commandments 34 128, 137 (n. 33), 147 (n. 61), 149-
(n. 11), 52, 103-104, 200, 210, 218 150, 154, 216, 229, 231, 233, 234
Renaissance 137 (n. 33), 223 (n. 54), Sela, Shlomo 10, 34
229, 230, 231, 232, 234 Separate intelligences 61 (nn. 16,17),
index 251
62, 63 (n. 21), 72-73, 183 (n. 12) 129, 181, 182, 183, 186, 189, 191,
Septimus, Bernard 65 202
Sermonetta, Joseph 115 Taub, Liba Chaia x
Serpent 22, 23, 24, 96, 98-99, 101, Temple 6, 13, 18 (n. 58), 23, 26,
107, 113, 209 50, 76, 77 (nn. 63, 64), 81, 85, 105,
Shatzmiller, Joseph xiii, 46-47, 75, 106, 107 (n. 60), 108, 109, 110,
81, 125, 135, 138, 145, 181 112, 144, 159, 160, 161, 162, 170
Shekhinah 65, 75, 77, 78, 108, 109, Terafim 19-21, 24, 31 (n. 7), 37-38,
112, 222, 224, 225 51 (n. 56), 96-97, 141-142, 143,
Silman, Yochanan 1, 7 151, 208, 218
Simon, Uriel 13, 25, 167, 184, 219 Thorndike, Lynn 27, 28, 44, 48,
Sinai 4 126, 152
Sirat, Colette 10, 24, 149, 151, 152, Tishbi, Yeshayahu 63, 71, 75
159, 186 Todd, Robert x
Sperber, Daniel 20 Touati, Charles 20, 142, 148
Steinschneider, Moritz 34, 94, 152, Trachtenberg, Joshua 114, 163
153, 184 Tsedek 104, 106
Stern, Josef 62 Twersky, Isadore 12, 17, 46, 54, 66,
Strauss, Leo 1, 32, 229 68, 123, 128, 135, 167, 172, 183,
Sun xii, 16-17 (nn. 53, 54), 29 (n. 211
31), 30 (n. 5), 31, 44, 76, 81 (n. 74),
85, 86, 92, 130, 136, 137, 153, 154, Urim and Thummim 84 (n. 83), 109,
155, 223 (n. 55). 144, 208
Supreme power 9-14, 15, 16, 17, 18,
20, 22-23, 25, 77, 78, 87, 95, 96, Vajda, Georges 26, 48, 49, 117,
97, 98, 99, 100 (n. 37), 103, 107, 138, 139
109, 110, 142, 144, 217, 226, 227 Venus 10, 17 (n. 54), 22, 98 (n. 26),
149, 211
Talisman, talismanic 2, 3, 4 (n. 7), Vita contemplativa 234
5, 6, 7, 14, 18, 19, 21, 23, 26, 28
(n. 2), 31 (n. 6), 32, 34, 35, 37, 38, Wolfson, Elliot 57, 69, 74, 75, 76
39, 44, 47-48, 65 (n. 29), 97 (n. 22), Wolfson, Harry Austryn 12
99, 108, 113, 139, 147, 152 (n. 74),
159, 160, 161, 162, 170, 208, 209, Yates, Frances Amelia xi, 223, 229,
218, 224, 227 (n. 64) 230, 231.
Talmage, Frank 95, 138, 163 Yesod (sefirah) 76 (n. 60)
Tardieu, Michel 35 Yuval, Israel Jacob 114
Ta-Shma, Israel 66, 67, 114, 123,
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Studies on Astral

Chapter One — Judah Halevi and Abraham Ibn Ezra

Chapter Two — Magic, Experiential Science, and Scientific

Chapter Three — From Theurgy to Magic: Sacrifice in the

Chapter Four — Institutionalization

Chapter Five — The Controversy in Provence

Chapter Six — The Controversy in Spanish Jewry

Chapter Seven — Jewish Rationalism In Late Medieval

Chapter Eight — Magic, Astrology, and Theology in Late

Epilogue — Astral Magic and the Philosophy of Science

This book deals with a specific kind of magic,1 widespread among

1 The term magic in the present context is problematic. Many students of

Ages (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 131-133. Cosmic sympathy, on

Roman culture, particularly in the Stoa. Stoic philosophers systematically formulate

speculative and ecstatic goal to which Hermetic literature directs its

be translated as “celestial world.”

cases and, even then, confines it to the movement of the sun.9 By

9 Aristotle, De generatione et corruptione, trans. C. J. F. Williams (Oxford: Clarendon

Press, 1982), II:10.

instance, begin teaching the uses of astral magic in healing. Bernard

Galen’s Tegni ca. 1300-1450 (Napoli: Bibliopolis, 1984), 258-259.

my two books on the subject: Astral Magic in Medieval Jewish Thought

JUDAH HALEVI AND ABRAHAM IBN EZRA

Astral magic begins to serve as a crucial theological element in Jewish

Judah Halevi: Astral Magic and Esoteric Writing

The Thought and Literary Style of Judah Halevi

doctrine de la prophétie et la réhabilitation de la Matière dans le Kuzari,” Mélanges de

and his view of messianism.3 The assumption of esotericism in the

A Divine v. an Astral Source

According to the first view, the effigy is blessed by divine emanation, as

infer his actual interpretation. The remark is implicit in the following

literature is valid. Judah Halevi’s critique, therefore, is not directed

16 Ibid., 1:49; 4:23.

Just as he casts doubts on many elements of Aristotelian science, Judah

Kiryat Sefer 3 (1926-1927): 190, l. 11.

Throughout, he is clearly aware of Hermetic sources. Judah Halevi

Abraham ibn Ezra: Mysteries and their Interpretation

A caveat must precede any definitive statement about Abraham ibn

commentary on the Torah by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver (New

commentaries rely on astrological interpretations, and he frequently

Drawing down power refers, in these texts, to the exploitation of

The theme of this passage is emanation (appearance of “light”). Ibn

and velocities cannot possibly be equal.

108-109; Yitzhak Tzvi Langerman, “Some Astrological Themes in the Thought of

38 Genesis 4:13, second commentary.

Astral Magic and Idolatry

43Commentary on Psalms 16:9.

an explicit textual command to do so violates the belief in direct

Eliezer Schlossberg, “Sources of Maimonides’ Concept of Idolatry as Mediation,”

the prohibition on idolatry and an acceptable magical or talismanic

The Astral Magic Mystery

57Commentary on Exodus 28:6. In reference to the mystery of the ephod and

The critique may indeed have focused on the similarities with

to receive the supreme power. I am not permitted to explain this

Popular Belief to Folktale,” Scripta Hiersolymitana 27 (1978): 99-106; Daniel Sperber,

of an astrological map were engraved in the image; what is clear is

62 These passages are from the commentary on Exodus 31:18.

cally states: “he who understands the mystery of astronomy [literally,

cherub was made to receive the supreme power.”68 The cherubim