
1190 AD to 1210 AD, Psalm 107: The Guide for the Perplexed
This generation is that of 1190s and the 1200s.
It is in 1090, exactly at the beginning of the generation that interests us and also at the beginning of the last phase of exile materialized by the fifth and last book of psalms that « The Guide for the Perplexed ». is published. This book marks a break in Jewish thought. It makes it topple into the modern world, whether by adherence to the theories of Maimonides or by opposition.
The book [1] is originally written and published in Arabic under the title « Dalalat al-Hayyirin » and is translated into Hebrew shortly after its publication, under the title of « Sefer Moreh Nebukhim » by Samuel ibn Tibbon.
- It is therefore [2] absolutely in the same way that Aristotle says, of the universe in general, that one thing is necessarily emanated from another. Until one arrives at the first cause, as he expresses himself, or at the First Intelligence, or whatever you want to call it. We all have in mind one and the same principle. But he thinks that all that is outside (of this principle) is emanated from necessity. As I said, while we, we say that it is God who did all these things with purpose and in wanting this universe, which did not exist at first and which now has been called to the existence by the will of God.
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(extract of the psalm 107 associated to this generation, verses 1 to 9 )
- Give thanks to the Lord because He is good, for His kindness is eternal.
- Those redeemed by the Lord shall say it, those whom He redeemed from the hands of an oppressor.
- And gathered them from lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the sea.
- They strayed in the desert, on a road of desolation; they did not find an inhabited city.
- Hungry as well as thirsty, their soul enwraps itself in them.
- And they cried out to the Lord in their distress; from their straits He rescued them.
- And He led them on a straight road, to go to an inhabited city.
- They shall give thanks to the Lord for His kindness, and for His wonders to the children of men.
- For He sated a yearning soul, and a hungry soul He filled with goodness.
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[…] At the end of his life, he met a man who had left Spain and arrived in Egypt, a Muslim scholar named Abu El-Arab Ma’isha, who proved that he had converted to Spain and demanded that the death penalty is applied to him. Cadi Abd al-Rahim bin Ali al-Fadal prevented this by saying: « A man converted by force, his Islam can not have legal value » …
(extract of the psalm 107 associated to this generation, verses 10 to 14 )
- Those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, prisoners of affliction and iron.
- For they rebelled against the words of God, and they scorned the counsel of the Most High.
- And He humbled their heart with toil; they stumbled with no one to help them.
- And they cried out to the Lord in their distress; from their straits He saved them.
- He took them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and He broke open their bonds.
(A Jewish immigrant from France – later than this generation -) had [3] gone to Jerusalem, but had not succeeded in rooting there. Like many immigrants from France, he finally settled in Saint-Jean d’Acre (where he had landed before), in Frankish territory held by the Crusaders. This choice may be surprising, but it is the direct consequence of the defensive policy put in place by Saladin. This tended to prevent the return of the Crusaders in force: the sultan had indeed ordered the dismantling of the walls of the former cities of the Frankish conquerors, to prevent them from returning and to retreat quickly. The conquered cities had therefore become unsafe, so the newcomers preferred a quieter stay. […] In Jerusalem, the destruction of the walls of the city, in 1219, will cause the departure of a large part of the population, including Jews.
(extract of the psalm 107 associated to this generation, verses 15 and 16 )
- They shall give thanks to the Lord for His kindness, and for His wonders to the children of men.
- For He broke copper doors, and cut off iron bars
- When [4] this news (the taking of Jerusalem by Saladin and the alleged sacking of the Holy Sepulcher) reached the German countries, the Christians told themselves that the day of the massacre of all the Jews had arrived. They then imposed a fast accompanied by lamentations and manifestations of mourning. On Thursday, January 29, 1188, Christians gathered at Mainz. They rushed into the street of the Jews who locked themselves in their houses. The assailants threatened to enter one of them when the treasurer’s men sprang up, who chased the attackers and saved the Jews.
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(extract of the psalm 107 associated to this generation, verses 17 to 22 )
- Fools, because of the way of their transgression and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
- Their soul despises all food, and they reach the portals of death.
- And they cried out to the Lord in their distress; from their straits He saved them.
- He sent His word and healed them, and extricated them from their pit.
- They shall give thanks to the Lord for His kindness, and for His wonders to the children of men.
- And they shall slaughter sacrifices of thanksgiving, and they shall tell of His deeds with song.
- Certainly [6], if it is true, as he (Aristotle) says, that the submersion of the ship with his crew and the collapse of the roof on the people of the house were the effect of pure chance, this It was not, in our opinion, the result of chance that some entered the ship and the others sat in the house; on the contrary, (this has happened) by the effect of the divine will, according to what people had deserved according to the judgments of God, whose rules are inaccessible to our intelligences.
(extract of the psalm 107 associated to this generation, verses 23 to 32 )
- Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do work in mighty waters.
- They saw the deeds of the Lord and His wonders in the deep.
- He spoke, and He set up a tempest, and it raised its waves.
- They went up to the heavens, they came down to the depths; their soul melted with trouble.
- They were frightened and staggered like a drunkard, and all their wisdom was destroyed.
- They cried out to the Lord from their distress, that He take them out of their straits.
- The tempest He had set up [settled] into a calm, and their waves were stilled.
- They rejoiced that they were stilled, and He led them to the region of their desire.
- They shall thank the Lord for His kindness, and for His wonders to the children of men.
- And they shall exalt Him in an assembly of people, and in a sitting of elders, praise Him.
- Indeed [7] as it is God (as it was established) who has excited such will in such unreasonable animal, as it is he who made the reasonable animal had free will, and as it is he finally, who has determined the course of natural things (for chance is only a surplus of the natural, as it has been exposed, and most often it participates in nature, free will, and the will), one must to say of all this, to say of what results from these causes, that God has commanded to do such thing, or that he has said, « That such thing be. » I will give you all these examples to which you will be able to compare all that I have not mentioned (expressly).
- En parlant des choses naturelles qui suivent toujours leur cours, comme (par exemple) de la neige qui fond quand l’air est chaud, et de l’eau de mer qui est agitée quand le vent souffle on s’exprime ainsi : « Il envoie sa parole et les fait fondre (Psaume 147, verset 18) », « Il parle et fait lever un vent de tempête qui élève les vagues (Le psaume de cette génération : Psaume 107, verset 25) », de la pluie qui tombe, il est dit : « Et j’ordonnerai aux nuages de ne pas faire tomber la pluie etc. » (Isaïe, Chapitre 5, verset 6).
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(extract of the psalm 107 associated to this generation, verses 33 to 43 )
- He makes rivers into a desert, and springs of water into an arid place;
- A fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants.
- He makes a desert into a pool of water, and a wasteland into springs of water.
- And He settles the hungry there, and they establish an inhabited city.
- And they sow fields and plant vineyards, which produce fruits and grain.
- And He blessed them, and they multiplied exceedingly, and their animals did not decrease.
- Whereas they were few and they sank down from dominion, trouble, and sorrow.
- He pours contempt upon princes and leads them astray in a wasteland where there is no path.
- And He strengthened the needy from poverty and made him families like flocks.
- The upright see and rejoice, and all injustice shuts its mouth.
- He who is wise will keep these in mind, and they will ponder the kind deeds of the Lord.
[1] Maurice -Ruben Hayoun: « The lights from Cordoba to Berlin ». (French: « Les lumières de Cordoue à Berlin ». (livre 1, page 170) )
[2] Maimonides (translated from Arabic into French by Salomon Munk): « The Guide of the Lost. » Second part, chapter 21: « The origin of the universe according to Aristotle ». (French: « Le guide des égarés ». Deuxième partie, chapitre 21 : « L’origine de l’univers selon Aristote ». (p. 311) ).
[3] Simon Schwarzfuchs : « Les Juifs au temps des Croisades ». Chapitre : « Dans le deuxième royaume de Jérusalem ». (French: « Les Juifs au temps des Croisades ». Chapitre : « Dans le deuxième royaume de Jérusalem » (p.164-165) )
[4] Simon Schwarzfuchs: « Jews in the time of the Crusades ». Chapter: « The Last Crusades » (French: « Les Juifs au temps des Croisades ». Chapitre : « Les dernières croisades » (p.143 à 146) ).
[6] Moses Maimonides (French translation of Salomon Munk): « The Guide of the Lost. » Third part. (French: « Le Guide des égarés ». Troisième partie. (p. 466) ).
[7] Moses Maimonides (French translation of Salomon Munk): « The Guide of the Lost. » Third part. (French: « Le Guide des égarés ». Troisième partie. (p. 403-404) ).