[A famous translator of Arabic books into Hebrew. He was born at Granada in 1120, and died towards the end of the twelfth century. He did a great deal for the development of the Hebrew language, having practically created or at least systematized the philosophic terms. It is due to his efforts and to those of his fellow-workers, the best of whom were his descendants, that the philosophic literature of the Jews has reached the readers for whom it was intended. He translated the works of Sa’adya, Ibn Janah, Ibn Gebirol, and Judah ha-Levi.]

Why the Jewish Religion Does Not Especially Encourage Asceticism^[134]

Said the Khazarite: Thou hast explained, O Rabbi, and drawn a comparison; indeed thou wast skilful in thy explanation and comparison. But we should expect to see more hermits and ascetics among you than among other nations.

Said the Rabbi: I regret very much that thou hast forgotten the principles which I previously expounded to thee and the truth of which thou didst admit. Did we not agree that it is impossible for any man to draw near to God except by means of deeds commanded by God? Dost thou think that this drawing near to God is only to be meek and humble, and the like?

Said the Khazarite: It is so in truth, and so do I think; I also read in your books as follows: ‘What doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God?’^[135] and another verse says: ‘What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy?’^[136] and many other passages.

Said the Rabbi: These and similar things are the rational laws, which are the preambles and bases of the divine Law, preceding it in character and time, and without which the administration of any human society is impossible. Even a band of robbers must adopt a standard of justice among them, otherwise their confederacy would not last. When the disobedience of the children of Israel had come to such a pass that they disregarded the rational and social laws (without which no society can exist, just as no individual can exist without the natural functions like eating, drinking, movement, rest, sleeping, and waking), but nevertheless held fast to ceremonial worship, like sacrifices and other divine laws that were prescribed to them, He was satisfied with even less. He said: ‘Would that ye observed those laws which even the meanest community observes, as the adoption of justice, the right path, and the acknowledgment of the Creator’s bounty!’ For the divine laws are not complete until the social and rational laws become perfected, and the rational laws include the adoption of justice and the acknowledgment of the Creator’s bounty. Now how can he, who does not cling to these laws, adhere to sacrifices, Sabbath, circumcision, and other ceremonies, which reason neither necessitates, nor rejects? But these are the very laws which were especially given to the children of Israel in addition to the rational ones, and it is through them that they received the advantage of the divine influence, though they knew not why these laws were necessary, just as they knew not how the glory of God descended upon them, or the fire of God upon their sacrifices; or how they heard the speech of God; or how all the other things occurred to them. Reason would not accept these matters, if not for the irrefutable testimony of by-standers and eye-witnesses. In a similar manner it was said unto them: ‘What doth the Lord require of thee?’^[137], and ‘Add your burnt-offerings unto your sacrifices’^[138], and other verses of a similar nature. Is it possible that an Israelite, confining himself to the doing of justice and the loving of kindness, while forsaking circumcision, Sabbath, and the laws of Passover and other laws, would prosper?

Said the Khazarite: Not in accordance with that which thou hast said before; but in the opinion of the philosophers he would be a pious man, even if he does not care by which religion he draws near to God, whether by becoming a Jew or a Christian, or by a religion which he devises for himself. Now we have returned to analogy, reasoning, and dialectics. Accordingly, every man would endeavor to establish that law to which his reason would lead him, and this would be absurd.

Said the Rabbi: The divine Law does not impose asceticism upon us. It rather desires that we should keep to the golden mean, and allot to every mental and physical faculty its just share, without giving too much to one faculty and too little to another. One who inclines toward the faculty of lust, decreases his thinking faculty; and, on the contrary, he who inclines toward continence decreases some other faculty. Prolonged fasting is no act of piety for a man whose appetites are weak, whose faculties are feeble, and whose body is emaciated; he rather should pamper his body. Nor is the decreasing of wealth an act of piety, if it happens to have been gained in a lawful way, without trouble, and the acquisition thereof does not disturb him from occupying himself with knowledge and good deeds, especially for one who has dependants and children, and whose desire is to spend money for the sake of God; he rather should amass wealth. As a general rule, our Torah is divided into fear, love, and joy, by each of which one may draw near to God. Thy contrition on fast-days is not nearer to God than thy rejoicing on Sabbaths and festivals, provided thy rejoicing is with devout intention and perfect heart. Just as supplications require concentration of mind and devout intention, so also the rejoicing in His commandment and His Torah requires concentration of mind and devout intention; thou shouldst rejoice in the commandment itself, because thou lovest Him who enjoined it, and shouldst thereby acknowledge the bounty He bestowed upon thee. For thou art, as it were, enjoying His hospitality, being invited to His table and bounty, and shouldst thank Him for it inwardly and outwardly. Now if this rejoicing leads thee to singing and dancing, thou thereby worshippest God and cleavest unto the divine influence. These matters were not left by the Torah free to the discretion of man, but all were strictly regulated, since it is beyond the power of human beings to apportion to each faculty of the soul and the body its right measure, or to decide what amount of rest and movement is good for it, or to determine the quantity that the ground should produce, so that it may rest in the years of release and jubilee, and that tithes may be given thereof, and so forth. God commanded to rest on the Sabbath, to rest during the festivals, and that the earth should rest; all this as a remembrance of the going forth from Egypt, and as a memorial of the work of creation. These two things resemble one another, both having been accomplished by the will of God, not by accident or natural development; as He, who is blessed, says: ‘For ask now of the days past, which were before thee.’^[139] ‘Did ever a people hear the voice of God.’^[140] ‘Or hath God assayed.’^[141] The observance of the Sabbath in itself has thus become an acknowledgment of the Godhead; nay, as it were, it is an acknowledgment of the creative utterance. For he who accepts the ordinance of the Sabbath, because the work of creation was finished on it, acknowledges the creation itself without doubt; and he who acknowledges the creation, acknowledges the Creator, the Maker, who is blessed. He, however, who does not accept it falls into the heresies of the world’s eternity, and his belief in the world’s Creator is not pure. Accordingly, the observance of the Sabbath brings one nearer to the Creator than do asceticism and monastic retirement. See how the divine influence, which had cleaved to Abraham and then to His chosen multitude, and to the Holy Land, kept on leading them from degree to degree, and guarded their posterity, so that none was detached. It put them in the best place, made them fruitful, and multiplied them in a miraculous manner, until it removed them, and planted them in a land worthy of a chosen people. He is therefore called the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, just as He is called Dweller above the Cherubim, Dweller in Zion, and Dweller in Jerusalem, these places being likened to heaven, as it is written: ‘O Thou that dwellest in the heaven’,^[142] for His light shines in these places, as it shines in heaven, though only through mediums worthy of receiving that light which He sheds upon them. This is called His love, which was established for us, in which we are obliged to believe, and for which we have to thank Him in the prayer With everlasting love dost Thou love us; so that we should bear in mind that it originated with Him, not with us. To give an instance, we say concerning the creation of a living being that it did not create itself, but God formed and fashioned it, when He selected the matter fit for that form. In the same manner it was He, who is blessed, who initiated our delivery from Egypt, that we should be His own people, and He should be our King, as He repeatedly says: ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God.’^[143] He also says: ‘Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’^[144]