Azariah Dei Rossi and the Rise of the Jewish Historical Criticism
The attempts of Jewish philosophers in the age of the European Enlightenment to overcome the dominant Christian anti-bias towards Judaism by presenting the commonality between Jewish and Christians principles, was characterized by the desire to portray religious truth as rational by nature. To be true all religious faiths, must come to the same essential beliefs and hence Judaism was presented as a rational religion. Consequently Christianity and Judaism were argued to differ only on the basis of customs, practices, etc.
Those views were strongly influenced by the works of earlier Jewish philosophers who sought to review Jewish works and history from radically different perspectives than those of their predecessors. While the Reformers appealed to Maimonides and Gershonides in their desire for a rationale approach to Jewish faith, perhaps the most radical and influential was Azariah dei Rossi who took the position that while the rabbis were authoritative on legal matters, their authority ended on social, scientific, and historical matters.
The Italian Renaissance's emphasis on educational and cultural programs based on the study of Greco-Roman classics led to the reemergence of history and Roman historians as sources of inspiration in areas of morality and political philosophy. An understanding of the past was assumed to provide guidance for the present day. The Roman historian Titus Livius or Livy wrote a monumental history of Rome, Ab Urbe Condita, from its founding was particularly studied and revered.
Livy inspired many humanists of the period to write their own histories of post-classical times. In doing so they developed a keener sense of historical perspective dependent on evidence and corroboration through emerging techniques such as epigraphy, archeology, and numismatics.
A number of Jewish historical works were written during the sixteenth century including Sefer Yuhasin by Abraham Zacuto at the beginning of the century and Semah David by David Gans at the end of the century. The former preceded Dei Rossi's Me'or Einayim and was intended for the accomplished Talmudic scholar while the latter was intended for the masses. While they differ in content and theme, both of these historical works emphasized the precise knowledge of the rabbis with the underlying goal of preserving the authority of the tradition. Zacuto's work affirms the literal truth of all rabbinic accounts including those with a legendary or mythical tone to them.
For Zacuto, history is not an end in itself but must instead serve to strengthen trust in God's power and providence. The history of the Jewish people fulfills the words of the Torah to "remember the days of old." Both works include a review of non-Jewish history but view it as separate and both works view any disagreements or discrepancies between Jewish sources and non-Jewish sources are decided by the former.
For Gans, writing after Dei Rossi and in response to many of his stances, any account that did was not divinely inspired could not be trusted absolutely. Like Zacuto, Gans affirmed the position rejecting any historical source that contradicted or called into question even the smallest detail of Talmudic Aggadah.
Those views were strongly influenced by the works of earlier Jewish philosophers who sought to review Jewish works and history from radically different perspectives than those of their predecessors. While the Reformers appealed to Maimonides and Gershonides in their desire for a rationale approach to Jewish faith, perhaps the most radical and influential was Azariah dei Rossi who took the position that while the rabbis were authoritative on legal matters, their authority ended on social, scientific, and historical matters.
The Italian Renaissance's emphasis on educational and cultural programs based on the study of Greco-Roman classics led to the reemergence of history and Roman historians as sources of inspiration in areas of morality and political philosophy. An understanding of the past was assumed to provide guidance for the present day. The Roman historian Titus Livius or Livy wrote a monumental history of Rome, Ab Urbe Condita, from its founding was particularly studied and revered.
Livy inspired many humanists of the period to write their own histories of post-classical times. In doing so they developed a keener sense of historical perspective dependent on evidence and corroboration through emerging techniques such as epigraphy, archeology, and numismatics.
A number of Jewish historical works were written during the sixteenth century including Sefer Yuhasin by Abraham Zacuto at the beginning of the century and Semah David by David Gans at the end of the century. The former preceded Dei Rossi's Me'or Einayim and was intended for the accomplished Talmudic scholar while the latter was intended for the masses. While they differ in content and theme, both of these historical works emphasized the precise knowledge of the rabbis with the underlying goal of preserving the authority of the tradition. Zacuto's work affirms the literal truth of all rabbinic accounts including those with a legendary or mythical tone to them.
For Zacuto, history is not an end in itself but must instead serve to strengthen trust in God's power and providence. The history of the Jewish people fulfills the words of the Torah to "remember the days of old." Both works include a review of non-Jewish history but view it as separate and both works view any disagreements or discrepancies between Jewish sources and non-Jewish sources are decided by the former.
For Gans, writing after Dei Rossi and in response to many of his stances, any account that did was not divinely inspired could not be trusted absolutely. Like Zacuto, Gans affirmed the position rejecting any historical source that contradicted or called into question even the smallest detail of Talmudic Aggadah.
