Daniel HaBavli
Daniel HaBavli | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1170 |
| Died | 1220 (aged 49–50) |
Daniel ben Saadia ha-Bavli (1170-1220) was a 13th-century talmud scholar from Damascus, a student of Samuel ben Ali, and an opponent of Maimonides. He campaigned against Maimonides' works and sent letters to his son Abraham Maimonides questioning his father after his death, and accusing him of heresy for not believing in evil spirits. Abraham published his answers, and refused to excommunicate Daniel, but David ben Samuel, the exilarch, later did so.[1][2][3][4] He critiqued both the halakhic and ideological aspects of Maimonides' work, and wrote a commentary on Ecclesiastes that was a veiled polemic against him, which brought him into conflict with Maimonides' student Joseph ben Judah of Ceuta.[5] Although Daniel corresponded with Abraham from Damascus, he likely had roots in Iraq (Babylon, as his name: ha-Bavli, the Babylonian) and his teacher was the head of the torah academy in Baghdad. His name appears in the Tahkemoni of Judah al-Harizi concerning the Damascene Jewish community, which praises his mind as an "ever-flowing spring...in his wisdom, he smashes cedar trees." Al-Harizi may have removed this after Daniel's excommunication.[6]
See also
References
- ^ "Daniel ben Saadiah Ha-Bavli". Encyclopedia Judaica. Retrieved 2025-09-22 – via encyclopedia.com.
- ^ "DANIEL BEN SAADIA HA-BABLI". JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2025-09-22.
- ^ Leicht, Reimund (2022-06-10), "A Maimonidean Life: Joseph ben Judah Ibn Shimʿon of Ceuta's Biography Reconstructed", Maimonides Review of Philosophy and Religion Volume 1, 2022, Brill, pp. 1–48, ISBN 978-90-04-50662-6, retrieved 2025-09-22
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link) - ^ Herman, Marc (2022-01-12), "Early Evaluation of Maimonides's Enumeration of the Commandments against the Background of the Eastern Maimonidean Controversy", Accounting for the Commandments in Medieval Judaism, Brill, pp. 83–96, ISBN 978-90-04-46094-2, retrieved 2025-09-22
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link) - ^ Russ-Fishbane, Elisha (2017). "Maimonidean Controversies After Maimonides: The Egyptian Context". Hebrew Union College Annual. 88: 159–202. doi:10.15650/hebruniocollannu.88.2017.0159. ISSN 0360-9049. JSTOR 10.15650/hebruniocollannu.88.2017.0159.
- ^ Brown, Jeremy P.; Herman, Marc (2022-01-17). Accounting for the Commandments in Medieval Judaism: Studies in Law, Philosophy, Pietism, and Kabbalah. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-46094-2.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "DANIEL BEN SAADIA HA-BABLI". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.