
1170 AD to 1190 AD, Psalm 106: Maimonides.
This generation is that of the 1170s and the 1180s, it marks the end of a certain medieval world.
At the same time, while Europe is losing its Eastern dreams, modern Europe is being built.
If the Capetian dynasty, initialized in 987, goes back to Hugues Capet, it is necessary to wait for the present generation so that this one provides with Philippe Auguste, a first king of France.
Avicenna, a Muslim philosopher, was the propagator of the works of Galen and Hippocrates, but it was especially the one that brought out the philosophy of Aristotle. Due to the rise of Muslim fundamentalism, his work will not allow the Arab world to become the intellectual power it could have become.
- The guide [1] was written for one who is bothered by the anthropomorphisms that affect God in the scriptures. This book is therefore made for the « intellectuals » imbued with secular sciences and troubled by the apparent opposition between their prophetic knowledge and their religious beliefs. And to the question that they are forced to ask themselves – whether religion and philosophy tend toward the same goal – Maimonides answers in the affirmative. […]
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- In [2] the medieval Jewish thought the appearance of Maimonides marks a real turning point: before him the philosophical exegesis, or the allegorical commentary of the Scriptures, took its first steps. After the publication of the « The Guide for the Perplexed », we are witnessing a powerful development of this type of exegesis. No one has synthesized so clearly the cardinal doctrines of Judaism to try to bring them closer to the teaching of the Stagirite philosopher (Aristotle).
(extract of the psalm 106 associated to this generation, verses 1 to 5 )
- Hallelujah. Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His kindness is forever.
- Who can narrate the mighty deeds of the Lord? [Who] can make heard all His praise?
- Fortunate are those who keep justice, who perform righteousness at all times.
- Remember me, O Lord, when You favor Your people; be mindful of me with Your salvation.
- To see the goodness of Your chosen ones, to rejoice with the joy of Your nation, to boast with Your inheritance.
(extract of the psalm 106 associated to this generation, verses 6 to 33 )
- We sinned with our forefathers; we committed iniquity and wickedness.
- Our forefathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; they did not remember Your manifold deeds of kindness, and they were rebellious by the sea, by the Sea of Reeds.
- And He saved them for His name’s sake, to make known His might.
- And He rebuked the Sea of Reeds, and it dried up, and He led them in the depths as [in] a desert.
- He saved them from the hand of the enemy, and He redeemed them from the hand of the foe.
- And the water covered their adversaries; not one of them survived.
- And they believed His words; they sang His praise.
- Quickly, they forgot His deeds; they did not await His counsel.
- They craved a lust in the desert, and they tried God in the wasteland.
- He gave them their request, but He sent emaciation into their soul.
- They angered Moses in the camp, Aaron, the holy man of the Lord.
- The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan and covered the congregation of Abiram.
- And fire burned in their congregation; a flame burned the wicked.
- They made a calf in Horeb and prostrated themselves to a molten image.
- They exchanged their glory for the likeness of an ox eating grass.
- They forgot God, their Savior, Who wrought great deeds in Egypt.
- Wonders in the land of Ham, awesome deeds by the Sea of Reeds.
- He intended to destroy them [and would have] were it not that Moses, His chosen one, stood before Him in the breech to return His wrath from destroying.
- They rejected the desirable land; they did not believe His word.
- They complained in their tents; they did not hearken to the voice of the Lord.
- He raised His hand to them to cast them down in the desert,
- And to cast their seed among the nations and to scatter them in the lands.
- They became attached to Baal Pe’or and ate sacrifices of the dead.
- They provoked [God] with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.
- Phinehas stood up and executed justice, and the plague was stopped.
- It was accounted for him as a merit, for generation to generation to eternity.
- They provoked [God] by the waters of Meribah, and Moses suffered because of them.
- For they rebelled against His spirit, and He uttered with His lips.
- In 1171 [3], a new fear took over Christianity already in the grip of demons. The Jews of Blois were accused of practicing ritual murders. People who had a deep repulsion for pagan sacrifices and who, since the Bible period, forbade themselves to consume the blood of meat, were now accused of killing a Christian to take blood and make unleavened bread of the Passover. The Jews, they whispered, were not human and needed the strength of the blood to take human form. The first Christians had also been victims of the same accusations, as were the heretics within Christianity. This was the first trial of its kind in France. The very first in history had taken place a few decades earlier in Norwich in England in 1144. Thirty-three Jews lived in Blois at the time of the trial, men, women and children (according to Riccardo Calimani they are 34 men and 17 women who were burned). On May 26, 1171, they were all burned at the stake. We would attend hundreds of such trials in the coming centuries. Thousands of Jews were going to be executed. The popes condemned these trials and executions, which did not cease.
(extract of the psalm 106 associated to this generation, verses 34 to 39 )
- They did not destroy the peoples whom the Lord had told them [to destroy].
- And they mingled with the nations and learned their deeds.
- They worshipped their idols, which became a snare for them.
- They slaughtered their sons and daughters to the demons.
- They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters whom they slaughtered to the idols of Canaan, and the land became polluted with the blood.
- And they became unclean through their deeds, and they went astray with their acts.
(extract of the psalm 106 associated to this generation, verses 40 to 42 )
- And the Lord’s wrath was kindled against His people and He detested His inheritance.
- And He delivered them into the hands of nations, and their enemies ruled over them.
- And their foes oppressed them, and they were humbled under their hand.
(extract of the psalm 106 associated to this generation, verses 43 to 48 )
- Many times He saved them, but they were rebellious with their counsel, and they were humbled because of their iniquity.
- But He looked upon their distress when He heard their cries.
- And He remembered His covenant for them, and He relented in accordance with His abundant kindness.
- And He caused them to be pitied by all their captors.
- Save us, O Lord, our God, and gather us from the nations, to give thanks to Your holy name, to boast with Your praise.
- Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from world to world, and all the people shall say, « Amen. » Hallelujah!
[1] Maurice-Ruben Hayoun: « The Enlightenment of Cordoba in Berlin ». Chapter: « The Biblical Exegesis of Saadia Gaon to Moses Maimonides ». (French: « Les Lumières de Cordoue à Berlin ». Chapitre : « L’exégèse biblique de Saadia Gaon à Moïse Maïmonide ». (p. 176) ).
[2] Maurice-Ruben Hayoun: « The Enlightenment of Cordoba in Berlin ». Chapter: « The Biblical Exegesis of Saadia Gaon to Moses Maimonides ». (French: « Les Lumières de Cordoue à Berlin ». Chapitre : « L’exégèse biblique de Saadia Gaon à Moïse Maïmonide ». (p. 166) =.
[3] Chaim Potok: « A story of the Jewish people ». Chapter: « Christianity: Lost in the Enchanted Country ». (French: « Une histoire du peuple Juif ». Chapitre : « Le Christianisme : perdus dans le pays enchanté »