JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

the bliss of divine love (Saadiah Gaon, The Book of Beliefs and
Opinions, trans. by S. Rosenblatt (1948), introduction, 6ff.;
Maimonides, The Guide of the Perplexed, trans. by S. Pines
(1963), introduction, 5ff., 51, 618ff.).
Mysticism and Hasidism
Jewish mysticism seeks to lead man from a state of psychic
alienation to one of ecstatic intimacy with God. Mostly, however,
it attempts to reach this emotional goal through an intellectual
process and a discipline parallel to that of philosophy.
It is mainly *Ḥasidism, with its suggestion of antinomianism
and its anti-intellectual direction, that emphasizes the emotions
– particularly joy, trust, and gratitude – as a primary
means to the religious life.
Bibliography: S. Schechter, Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology
(1909), 148–69; S. Belkin, In his Image (1960), 185–93.
[Alfred L. Ivry]
°EMPEDOCLES (fifth century b.c.e.), Greek poet, prophet,
and natural philosopher who set forth the doctrine of the
four elements, which dominated Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin
thought in the Middle Ages. Empedocles is known in medieval
Jewish circles through stray references to him and his work,
mainly found in the works of Aristotle, which were translated
into Arabic and then into Hebrew. The form of his name in
the Hebrew translations from the Arabic follows the Arabic
form, that is, Abnduqlīs, Abīduqlīs, and others. In translations
from the Latin, the Latin form is found. Empedocles’ name
was taken over by late Greek neoplatonic circles and affixed
to treatises later translated into Arabic, which became known
to medieval Jewish thinkers. The main representative of this
literature is the Book of the Five Substances. The Arabic version
is lost but it is partially preserved in a Hebrew translation,
published by D. Kaufmann as an appendix to his Studien
ueber Salomon ibn Gabirol (1899).
Among medieval Jewish philosophers, Shem Tov ibn
Falaquera mentions that Solomon ibn Gabirol’s Source of Life
was influenced by the Book of the Five Substances (S. Munk,
Mélanges, 1). Joseph ibn Zaddik refers to the true conception
of the will as a secret whose true meaning may be derived from
the Book of Empedocles or works by other philosophers written
on these subjects. Judah Halevi twice refers to Empedocles as
the head of a philosophic school, in his Kuzari (4:25 and 5:14).
Maimonides, in his famous letter to Samuel ibn Tibbon, states
that one should not waste one’s time studying the works of
Empedocles, which form a part of ancient (pre-Aristotelian)
philosophy (A. Marx, in: jqr, 25 (1935), 380).
Bibliography: Stern, in: EI2, S.V. Anbadukīs; Steinschneider,
Uebersetzungen, index; D. Kaufmann, Geschichte der Attributenlehre
(repr. 1967), index; A. Altmann and S.M. Stern, Isaac Israeli, A Neoplatonic
Philosopher… (1958), index.
[Lawrence V. Berman]
°EMPEREUR, CONSTANTIJN L’ (1591–1648), Dutch Calvinist
theologian and Christian Hebraist. L’Empereur pursued
an academic career as a theologian. Only following his
emperor worship
appointment to the professorship of Hebrew at the University
of Leiden (1627) did he start to study rabbinical literature seriously.
Within six years he published several (fairly competent)
editions of rabbinical works, most of them with a parallel
Latin translation and annotations, meant to facilitate the study
and use of Jewish literature. He paid *Menasseh ben Israel and
Isaac *Aboab da Fonseca to assist him in his studies. His books
did not sell well. His emphasis on rabbinical literature in his
lectures was not well received by the students and professors
of the theological faculty, and he was ordered to focus on biblical
Hebrew. In 1633 he was passed over in a fiercely contested
appointment to a professorship in the faculty of theology. To
compensate him, the board of the university raised his salary,
and justified this unusual generosity by appointing him
to a spurious professorship of Jewish controversies, which did
not entail any duties. In 1637 he published an edition, translation,
and commentary on the tractate Bava Kamma, a highly
original (although implicitly antisemitic) work in which he
compared its rulings with the corresponding legislations of
Roman Law. In 1647 he was, finally, appointed to a professorship
in the faculty of theology.
Bibliography: P. van Rooden, Theology, Biblical Scholarship
and Rabbinical Studies in the Seventeenth Century (1989).
[Peter van Rooden (2nd ed.)]
EMPEROR WORSHIP, the Roman cult established during
the reign of Augustus, first in the provinces but not in Italy,
and practiced throughout the Roman Empire. It is the direct
continuation of the Hellenistic worship of the ruler. Emperor
worship first appeared in Palestine during the reign of *Herod
the Great. Although it was completely unacceptable to the
Jewish population, Herod could nevertheless not afford to
lag behind other vassal princes in establishing the cult. Thus
although a temple was not erected in Jerusalem to honor the
emperor, these rites were adopted in the cities of Sebaste and
Caesarea, both predominantly non-Jewish. The Jewish population,
though not the Christian, was everywhere exempted
from the loyal duty of emperor worship and only one attempt
was made to compel the Jewish nation to accept emperor worship,
when *Caligula issued a decree to erect a statue of himself
in the sanctuary at Jerusalem (Jos., Ant., 18:262; Jos., Wars,
2:184; Philo, De Legatione ad Gaium, 188, 207–8; Tacitus, Historiae,
5:9). The decree was never carried out, however, due
to the death of Caligula in January 41 C.E.
Following the destruction of the Second Temple there
was a tendency among the rabbis to mitigate various laws
concerning idolatry, which was no longer considered a
threat to the Jewish community. Nevertheless these same
rabbis continued to reject any compliance with the imperial
cult.
Bibliography: C.R. Taylor, The Divinity of the Roman Emperor
(1931); CAH, 10 (1934), 481–9 (bibliography: 951f.); Urbach, in:
Eretz Israel, 5 (1958), 189–205 (English summary: 94f.); A. Schalit,
Koenig Herodes (1969), 421–3.
[Isaiah Gafni]
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6 397