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The Jews held cattle dealers in contempt. They considered them illiterate louts in no way different from peasants. My grandfather never let a cattle dealer into his house. Into the barn yes, but never…
Ḥay ibn Yaqẓān, composed by the Muslim philosopher Abū Bakr ibn Tufayl al-Qaysi (1110–1185), relates the story of Ḥay ibn Yaqẓān, literally “Alive, son of Awake,” as he grows up alone on a deserted…
The words of Kohelethson of David, king in Jerusalem.
Utter futility!—said Koheleth—
Utter futility! All is futile!
What real value is there for a man
In all the gainshe makes beneath the sun?…
One who uses the Ineffable Name in this world will have a great punishment, and the reason for this is that he mentions holy letters in impurity, and combines that which is holy with that which is…
If I was indeed engaged in my youth with singing and the musical art, surely it is the most magnificent of the arts, and I have elucidated its beneficial effects in the Abir Ya‘akov in this commentary…
He and I rarely spoke of God. He didn’t want to listen to another one of my blasphemous speeches, and I knew it was like talking to a brick wall—you could never convince him of anything.
But once—by…
To the Most Serene Prince and to the Most Honorable and Wise Senators of the Venetian Republic Free Wisdom befits a Free Republic, most Serene Prince, most honorable Senators, whom Freedom of their…
It was explained earlier in part 2 that faith is [like a] possession that is, it is a possession that belongs to man’s soul, the way knowledge belongs to the soul…
[ . . . ] Now you know and are witness that I have composed several works on various topics. However, I did not write them in order to publish them; rather, I prepared them for my own use, to…