CHAPTER IV THE YEARS 1200-1350 A. THE BACKGROUND The years 1200-1350 saw no abatement in Messianic speculation. The times did not warrant it. Though the persecutions were not as prolonged as in the twelfth century, they were nevertheless frequent and intense. Christendom made headway against the Moors in Spain, and with its advance came religious intolerance. The thirteenth century was the age of the last five Crusades (1204, 1218, 1228, 1248, 1270), and Europe, Northern Africa and Asia Minor were in the throes of an almost continuous turmoil. That century, too, witnessed the extensions of the Yellow Badge indignity, ordered by the fourth Latern Council of 1215, and the first public burning of the Talmud (1242). The hand of the Church begins to bear down heavily upon the Jews. In France the Jews suffered under Louis IX. An edict of expulsion was promulgated in 1254, which was, however, later repealed. In 1306 the Jews were again expelled and robbed of their possessions, and in 1320 the Crusade of the Shepherds wrote another bloody chapter in the history of the Jews in France. A year later followed the persecutions of the Lepers. The Jews in England were continuously harassed and mulcted, and in 1290 were altogether expelled. The Rindfleisch (1298) and the Armleder riots (1336) underscore the tribulations of the Jews in Germany and Alsace. In the middle of the fourteenth century the Black Plague swept over Europe and brought with it a long series of disasters. About this time, too, the Flagellants stirred the populace against the Jews. In this century and a half, Jewish life in Western Europe was completely disorganized. Thousands migrated eastward to Bohemia and Austria, to Poland and Lithuania. Intellectually, the thirteenth century marks the beginning of the decline which was to continue for centuries. Maimonides is furiously attacked, and rationalism is generally discredited. This tendency culminates in the edict of excommunication pronounced by fifteen Rabbis, headed by Solomon ben Adret, against all men under the age of twenty-five who study philosophy (1305). Under the influence of Isaac the Blind, Kabbala begins its ascendency in the realm of Jewish thought. It invades rapidly the whole realm of Jewish literature. Biblical commentary takes a sharp turn away from the rational in the direction of the mystic, the allegoric and the fantastic. At the close of the thirteenth century the Zohar makes its appearance. "Talmudic literature, ritualism and Kabbala were almost exclusively cultivated. Poetry, exegesis, philosophy and scientific literature were constantly declining." B. THE CALCULATORS The period is rich in Messianic speculation. Even the philosopher Gersonides is enticed. Hailing from these times are the speculations of at least eight men, and we have scattered references to still others. These eight men are: (1) Naḥmanides, (2) Isaac Halevi, (3) Abulafia, (4) The author of the Zohar, (5) The author of Sefer haTemunah, (6) Gersonides, (7) Baḥya ben Asher, (8) Joshua ibn Shoeib. This period likewise presents the names of at least three pseudo-Messiahs, of whom the above-mentioned Abulafia was one. Under the influence of the Kabbalistic exegesis, popularized by Naḥmanides and his followers, in which numerical and literal mysticism-Gematria and Notarikon -is freely employed, the technique of Messianic computation begins to show a marked leaning in that direction. The method of arriving at a date becomes far more involved and supersedes the simpler and the more direct method of the earlier calculators. 1 Deutsch, History of the Jews, p. 63. 1. Moses Nahmanides (1194-1268), in his Book of Redemption (Sefer ha-Ge'ula or Sefer ha-Kez.), applies himself zealously to the task of discovering the exact year of Redemption. Azariah dei Rossi marvels at the plausibility of Nahmanides' arguments and frankly acknowledges that, had he lived in Naḥmanides' days, he too would have been convinced.2 Naḥmanides explains the cause of his great interest in this subject. The Messianic belief, he argues, is a truth patent and universally accepted among the wise and the learned. It is the expression of our wish to be nearer to God, to lead the higher life of purity and holiness in the Holy Land, where the Shekinah can dwell in our midst more closely than it can in exile. It is also an expression of our natural desire to triumph over our enemies and to sanctify the name of God before all men.3 He sets about to prove four things: (1) that the books of Moses and the later prophetic writings contain definite references to the final Redemption, as well as calculable and ascertainable dates; (2) that Gematria is a legitimate and traditionally sanctioned method of discovering such dates; (3) that the Messianic passages of Daniel refer to the final Redemption; (4) that the Rabbinic injunction against calculating the end is no longer binding because we are so near the end now, and the injunction was made at a time when the end was far off, in order to save the people from heart-breaking disappointments." 8 Naḥmanides proceeds to harmonize the various dates found in the Book of Daniel, and to deduce from them the exact Messianic year. According to him, Dan. 12.11, "And from the time that the continual burnt offering shall be taken away and the detestable thing that causeth appalment set up, there shall be 1290 days," means that 1290 2ry 18, ed. Wilna, 1865, Chap. XLIII, p. 100. 30, ed. Lipschitz, London, 1909, pp. 20-21. Ibid., pp. 3-16. Ibid., pp. * Ibid., pp. 21–22. "Ibid., years after the destruction of the Temple the first Messiah, the Messiah ben Joseph, will appear (i. e. in the year 1358 C.E.). In his public disputation with Pablo Christiani (1263 c. E.), Naḥmanides stated explicitly: "It is now 1195 years since the destruction, or 95 years less than the Messianic figure of Daniel. We believe that the Messiah will come that year."10 Nahmanides maintains that the burnt offering was taken away on the day of the destruction, differing in this regard from Saadia. Forty-five years later (i. e. 1403 c. E.) the Messiah ben David will come; hence the second figure of 1335 days found in Dan. 12.13. The "time and times and half a time" yield the figure 1540; for the "time" refers to the length of the Egyptian bondage, which was 440 years; hence 440 plus 880 plus 220=1540. This number represents the number of years which Israel will be under the rule of the fourth kingdom, i. e. Rome, whose rule began with her victory over Greece in 138 B. C. E. Dan. 8.14, "Unto 2,300 evenings and mornings, then shall the sanctuary be victorious," refers to the number of years which shall elapse from the reign of David (the first Messiah) to the termination of the exile. or approximately 2300 years. The text means one to understand the figure to be approximate, for its reads i. e. "about the time of the evening." One may even arrive nearer to the figure 2300 by counting from the See also his commentary on Gen. 2.3, which passage is quoted verbatim approvingly by Baḥya (see infra) and by Jacob ben Asher. See his Commentary on the Torah, ed. Hannover, 1838, p.2c. 10 1”, ed. Steinschneider, Stettin, 1860, p. 15. 11 Dan. 7.25 and 12.7. birth of David, which took place thirty years before he ascended the throne, up to the year of the first appearance of the Messiah, which will take place 1330 years after the destruction.12 Nahmanides, who suffered under the rule of Christian Spain, and whose compulsory participation in a religious disputation resulted in his exile, looked toward a new ascendancy of Mohammedan power after 1240 as a preliminary to Redemption. The Jews in Christian lands often looked forward to a Mohammedan victory to prepare the way for the Messiah just as the Jews in Mohammedan lands looked forward to a Christian victory.13 Nahmanides concludes his calculations by adducing a few Gematriot to substantiate them; as e. g. Gen. 15.13, And they will oppress them") וענו אתם ארב"ע מאות שנה, 400 years"). The Gematria here is 1293, which is the time of the duration of the exile, plus the half of the week (about 3 years), "when he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease."14 Also Deut. 4.30, 7 In thy distress when all) ומצאו"ך כ"ל הדברים האל"ה באחרית הימים these things are come upon thee in the end of days.") The Gematria here is 1291, which is approximately the number of years between the destruction and the Redemption.15 2. Isaac ben Judah Halevi (second half of 13 c.), Tosafist of Sens, France, in his commentary on the Pentateuch,16 which is in the nature of a compilation of the thoughts and interpretations of his teachers and predecessors, quotes the anonymous author of the Biblical commentary, Gan (France, 13 c.), as saying that Deut. 28.63 contains a Messianic reference: "And it shall come to pass that as 12 In his Disputation, however, Nahmanides categorically states that there are no Messianic references in Daniel whatsoever, except at the very end of the book. (ibid., p. 15). Nahmanides was forced to take this position because of his opponent's attack. שאין בפרשה הזאת ולא בכל דברי דניאל קץ לביאת המשיח אלא בסוף הספר כי בתחלת האלף הששי תתחדש מלכות אומה שלטת תקיפא ואומתנו יתירא 13 .(2.3 .Gen) ומתקרבת אל האמת יותר מן הראשונות 14 Dan. 9.27. .34 .p ספר הגאולה 15 16 MyD, The Revealer of Secrets; the numerical value of пy is 208, and of N is 208. The author's first name, pпx', is also 208. |