Abba Mari - His Works

His Works

Abba Mari collected the correspondence and added to each letter a few explanatory notes. Of this collection, called Minḥat Ḳenaot, there are several manuscript copies extant; namely, at Oxford (Neubauer, Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS., Nos. 2182 and 2221); Paris, Bibl. Nat. No. 976; Günzburg Libr., Saint Petersburg; Parma; Ramsgate Montefiore College Library (formerly Halberstam, No. 192); and Turin. Some of these (Oxford, No. 2221, and Paris, Bibl. Nat.) are mere fragments. The printed edition (Presburg, 1838), prepared by M. L. Bislichis, contains: (1) Preface; (2) a treatise of eighteen chapters on the incorporeality of God; (3) correspondence; (4) a treatise, called Sefer ha-Yarḥi, included also in letter 58; (5) a defense of The Guide and its author by Shem-Tob Palquera (Grätz, Gesch. d. Juden, vii. 173). As the three cardinal doctrines of Judaism, Abba Mari accentuates: (1) That of the recognition of God's existence and of His absolute sovereignty, eternity, unity, and incorporeality, as taught in revelation, especially in the Decalogue; (2) that of the world's creation by Him out of nothing, as evidenced particularly by the Sabbath; (3) that of the special providence of God, as manifested in the Biblical miracles. In the preface, Abba Mari explains his object in collecting the correspondence; and in the treatise which follows he shows that the study of philosophy, useful in itself as a help toward the acquisition of the knowledge of God, requires great caution, lest we be misled by the Aristotelian philosophy or its false interpretation, as regards the principles of creation ex nihilo and divine individual providence. The manuscripts include twelve letters which are not included in the printed edition of Minḥat Ḳenaot.