Book of the Luminary: Introduction

Blessed is the Lord, God of truth, profound in grace and truth, whose word is truth. His desire is truth. All His paths are grace and truth. He chose prophets of justice and truth, all their words spoken in truth, to guide His servants in the way of truth. He placed in their hand[s]‌ right rules and true teachings, for His chosen people, who fear God, men of truth. As it is written: You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven; and gave them right ordinances and laws of truth, good statutes and commandments (Nehemiah 9:13). And it is written [also]: The beginning of Your word is truth; and all Your righteous ordinance endures for ever (Psalms 119:160). And it says: Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts; make me, therefore, to know wisdom in my inmost heart (Psalms 51:8).

Thus says Zeraḥiah ha-Levi ben Isaac:

In many places in scripture the “living soul” is called kavod. As it is written: So my heart is happy; my soul [kevodi] rejoices (Psalms 16:9). And [also] it is written: Awake, O my soul [kevodi]! (Psalms 57:9). And [furthermore] it is written: That [my] soul [kavod] might sing hymns to You (Psalms 30:13). For the Creator emanated it [i.e., the soul] upon mankind from the throne of His kavod. By it[s agency,] He has granted him [i.e., mankind] of His splendor. It is the substance that yearns for its foundation [yesod], as the lover yearns for his beloved. Then its secret [sodo] will be revealed to him. By [his] seeking justice in his lifetime, by [his] striving for what is correct with all his heart and all his might, and by his search for truth in accordance with his ability. As it is written: If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hid treasures (Proverbs 2:4), so you will understand fear of the Lord, and knowledge of God you will find. Now, the philosophers call the “throne of glory [kavod]” the “sphere of the intellect.” They say that through the shining of its light, that is, the radiance of life upon the pure living soul, which was taken from it, it shall glow as the radiance of the firmament, [it shall glow] from the righteous among the multitudes, as the stars forever.

Therefore, it fulfills the desire of the heart of every person wise of heart, to seek and survey wisdom, to understand and discern, whether to the right or to the left, between truth and falsehood, to instruct and to distinguish. Sometimes this desire overpowers the heart to such a degree that he seems like a lover who departs from the path of modesty and moral principle, by removing the veil of shame from his face to examine the truth. As that which is said: I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings, and will not be ashamed (Psalms 119:46). This matter is implied by the veil which Moses would remove from his face when he would come to speak with God, to receive the radiance of splendor and the rays of glory from before the King of Glory, may His name be praised. [ . . . ]

This [search for truth] is how all [our] scholars were accustomed to behaving, as the learned master [Jonah] Ibn Janaḥ wrote, in challenging the great teacher and grammarian R. Judah [Ḥayyuj]. He recalled the words of the philosopher [Aristotle] who disputed his master: [In the case of] a conflict between the truth and Plato, we love them both, but the truth we love more [see Nicomachean Ethics, chapter 6]. He further said: “I have not come to diminish the stature of this man nor deride it, but to extol its wonder and amplify it. For we all have suckled from the breasts of his wisdom. He has ennobled us from the richness of his thought. We have plucked from the fruit of the sharpness of his intellect. We have sailed on the ocean of his knowledge. It is he who opened our eyes, taught us, motivated us, raised us, and enlightened us with this wisdom. But just as we have learned from his lips, so [may] we challenge his words based on that which he has taught.”

In the same way, and even more so, I who am but young shall say all that there is to add upon [the words of] our teacher, the great and brilliant sage, R. Isaac ben R. Jacob, author of The Laws, called Ibn al-Fāsī.

There is no need to enlarge upon his greatness and wisdom. It is apparent to all who see, as the sun at its zenith. The wings of his righteousness, in the compendium of his Laws, are spread for his generations, and the generations to follow. No work on the Talmud as beautiful as his has since been made. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us, as with every glorious and exalted matter, to glorify, exalt, sanctify, purify, polish, and explicate it to the best of our abilities. So, I have composed this work, and titled it:

Luminary. [A light] to illuminate students’ eyes, to extricate them from the pitfalls of doubt, from the trap of error. I have set forth the legal decisions of [al-Fāsī] noted above, as the basis of this work, in which I seek, enquire, investigate, comment, and provoke. At times, I support and reinforce. At others, I dissent and shatter. I have embellished it with branches and flowers [culled] from the rest of the words of the great sages, whom it is worthy to scrutinize, to refine and examine their words, together with the explication of some of the more important laws and main ideas I jotted down for myself in my youth for a remembrance, to fulfill by this the wish of my fond and dearly beloved friend, who has prevailed upon me [to write this]. I could not refuse him. But I have no expectation of achieving anything near [what] the master, of blessed memory, has left behind. His legacy contains concepts diverse in many ways. In some, he appears as one who flees from ambiguity, and from matters that are found only seldom. Besides these, there are further concepts, inscrutable and sealed, which the sophisticated savant will nevertheless comprehend. Behold, I have opened a door for the discerning of mind, to take care and distinguish between that which exists and that which does not exist. To learn, from that which is written, that which is not written. But I have discovered regarding R. Ephraim that in this respect his material is disorganized and disjointed, diffuse and scattered. What little is correct in my view I have assembled and cited in his name.

I have divided this work into two sections. One section pertains to the Order of [Civil] Damages [Nezikin] and the Order of Women [Nashim]. I have called it by the name The Great Luminary, since the laws of property comprise a great discipline in the Torah [ . . . ]

The second section concerns the Order of the Festivals [Mo‘ed]. [ . . . ] I have called this by the name The Lesser Luminary, because the appointed times of the Lord are holy convocations determined by the sanctification of the new moon, which is the lesser luminary. I have struggled in this [work] to the best of my ability, albeit afflicted and broken by the vicissitudes of life that have affected me. Yea, archers have shot [me] with [their] arrows of affliction; they have impelled and perturbed me from my circumstances. Happenstance has ambushed and shaken me from my status. A heart affected, fatigued, and restrained by such things cannot be blamed for failing to achieve completeness and accuracy. In any case, the power of mortal man is weak and deficient. The Lord alone is perfect.

I enjoin by oath, in [or: by] the name of the Life of the universe, all who may copy this work, that they shall copy this introduction with it; that they shall not toss it away, as is the custom in this land with scribes who copy scrolls. It [this oath] shall be a witness to exculpate me from blame before those who read my work. Perhaps there shall be [among you] one whom you shall [try to] prevent from opening his mouth and throat, from propounding his pride and genius in bringing shame down upon me for having fallen short in my intellect and understanding, may he judge me favorably. As our rabbis have said in this matter: “All those who are silent are good; but those who are silent in the Torah are bad. All those who chatter are bad; but those who chatter in [i.e., about] the Torah are good.” Moreover, one of the sages has said: “No blame should be put on one who has brought something partially correct even though he has not completed it.”

My hope and expectation are unto the God of my salvation. From Him is my help and sufficiency for every wish and need. He in His abundant mercy shall illuminate my mind with the light of His Torah, as it is written: Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light for my path (Psalms 119:105). And: Make Your face to shine upon Your servant; and teach me Your statutes (Psalms 119:135).