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The Secret of Rabbi Ḥasdai Crescas: The Meaning of “Sod Ha-tefillah” and “Sod Ha-bitaḥon” in the Work 'Or Ha-Shem

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2018

Avraham Stav*
Affiliation:
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Abstract

Type
English Abstract of Hebrew Article
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Jewish Studies 2018 

The article discusses the various instances of the term sod (literally: secret) as it appears in 'Or ha-Shem by Ḥasdai Crescas. As opposed to the common scholarship on the subject, which identifies these “secrets” as rooted in kabbalistic ideas, the article clearly proves otherwise. These “secrets” are in fact all interwoven ideas that constitute a single chain of thought emerging from the religious implications of Crescas's view of causal determinism. This analysis, based on a comparison of the teachings of Crescas and Thomas Aquinas, sheds light on Crescas's view of prayer, and explains the centrality of his concept of bitaḥon, trust in the Almighty, both as a means for the acceptance of prayer and the ultimate purpose of the institution of prayer altogether. From a broader perspective, the article reinforces the position that regards Crescas as a rationalist philosopher influenced by his Christian predecessors, while simultaneously distancing him from the world of kabbalistic thought.