Aaron ben ELijab Aaron ibn ^ayyim all
but the uepilivc
THK JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA iHtriliuti's;
Aaron, however,
(K--
clares power. kiiowle(l;.'c. life, will, and existence to be positive (allirmalive) attributes inseparable from His es.sence and e(>nsi'i|Uenlly in no way infrinKin;: upon His unity. This leads hini to an explanation of the usual names of (Jod which denole His a<tivity as distinguished from His speeilie name, the Titni-
gmmmaton denotiDg
His essence as the author of all
existence. In chapters 78-9r( divine providence is then discus.sed with special reference to the existence of evil in its fourfold nature, physical
His Views and
|isy<liiial, moral luid non moral. This had been a favorite toi>ic of the older Kannle philosophers such as Divine Providence. Jo.seph al Hazir and Joshua, based upon the Aristotelian view, followed also by Maimonides. that evil is only a defect inherent" in matter, and therefore not to be ascribed to God, unles.s and this is well broujrht out by
of
—
—
Aaron and his Karaite predeces.sors God makes While it the means of man's moral iinprnvement. JIaimonides assiunes an especial providence of God only for man and not for creatures without reason, Aaron extends divine providence over all beings. God's universiil knowledire embracinjr. according to Karaite theology, also sympathy with all beings. The ruling principle of divine action he takes to be not His wisdom, as does Maimonides, but, with a far deeper theological insight, Ilis justice. Accentuating the superiority of the moral above the intellectual power. Aaron takes a higher view of the suflfering of the righteous than do Maimonides and some of his Karaite predecessors, who speak of temurah (the law of compensation for grief. which also rules over animal life); and he posttilates, with especial reference to Abraham and Job, goodness as u divine principle ini<lcrlying all trials
imposed upon man
for his spiritual benefit.
As
to
the purposes of the world, man can only comprehend his own sublunary world, of which he forms the highest end as God's servant. From chapter 9.5 to the end of the work, revelation and law, with the soul's perfection, its immortality and future bliss, The two trees in paradise are the subjects treated. are taken as symbols of the higher and the lower spheres of human life, man's fall from the one to the other necessitating the special commandments of God. tmlil finally the Law becomes the means of man's fidl restoration to his twofoUl nature. This leads to a discussion of the nature of prophecy in general and of its highest degree attained by Jloses; also of the object of the Law and its various commandments given for the |iur]iose of the perfection of the individual as well as of the human race in general. The Law of Closes was intended for and offered to all nations, and it can never be changed, improved, or (as the rabbanites claim) augmented by an oral law. Essentially ditTerent from the attitude of !Maimonidcs, and in fact from that of all Aristotelian thinkers, is Aaron's attitude toward immortality, which he bases chiefly upon moral grounds, the postulate of retribution; but for this very reason his eschatology is rather obscure, being half-rational and half-mystical, a blending of many beliefs. call to repentance forms the conclusion of
A
his work. In his great
work on the Commandments, entitled consisting of twenty-tive sections and one htmdred and ninety-four chapters, besides nine smaller juridical articles, which became of paramount importance to the Karaites, Aaron follows a system of rationalism similar to the one expounded
"Gan Eden,"
by Maimonides
10 in his
"Moreh Nebukim," whereas
the Karaites jirefer tocompareit with the " Ya<l haHa/.akah." He starts with the (irinciple enunciated in the " Ez ha HayAaron's Interpreta- yim. that the inculcation of the belief tion of the in God's unity, and es]iecially in His government of the world, is the main Law. purposi- of every single iirecepl of the Law; wherefore it is our dvity to search after the object of each commandment. The 8abl)ath day has for its special object the inculcation of the beiief in the divine creation and guidance of the world, while other festivals are intendi'il to coimterTwo act the inlluences of paganism and fatalism. treatises of this work have appeared as separate books: one comprising five sections and twenty-two chapters on nhrhiUih (the law for the slaughtering of animals): another, "Zofnat Paaneah" (Discloser of Secrets), comprising eight chapters on incestuous mamagcs. The whole work is the best and most comprehensive exposition of the Karaite system of the Law. and ]>resents the opinions of all Aaron's predecessors with imp.'irtial and frank criticism. It is chiefly owing to this work that he exerts a great influence upon the Karaites. Aaron's third work. " Keter Torah (the Crown of the Law), is coiuposed after the manner of Ibn Like his Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch. other works, it also contains a review of the philosophical and exegetical inter|n-etalions by all his predecessors, with a fair criticism of the same, and helps to supplement and cluciihite his ritual work. Of special interest is his preface, in which are stated the main differences between the rabbanites and Karaites in regani to Biltlical exegesis. The "'Ez lia Hayyim." of which many maiiusciiptsexist in Lcyd<-n. Munich. Vienna, and Liiji.sic, was first jmblislicil, with a large comEditions of m<'ntary ("Or ha l.Iayyim") by Luzki.
Aaron's
in Koslov,
18:W.
A
critical edition.
Works.
with valuable infonnation and a sumluaryofthe one hundred and fotirteen chapters in Hebrew by Caleb Afandojiulo. and one in (jerman by the editor, Franz Delitzsch, ajipeared in Lcipsic,
1841.
Of the "Keter Torah" there
is
extant a Koslov edition (1860), besides manuscripts in the Bodleian Library. Oxford, in Vienna, and in Lcipsic: while the "Gan Eden " exists in manuscript Portions of the latter only, in Leyden and Leipsic. have been published by Schuparth, Trigland. Danz,
and Lanzhausen. BinLroijRAPiiY: Jost. Annalen. 1830, No. 11; .lost, Gench. •!. Jriih nlhttms^ ii, ;iti2-366; Fiirst. Gi'sch, d. Kitr&frt ii. tUM2.SII; Neiihiincr, AuK ihr I'ltirsliurticr liiliUnthih:. p. 5S; Hanilmrtrer, in Winter and Wiinsehe's JUdisrhr Literature ii. 9t»-lt)S, where a few speeinien.s of ,anin's wrltincs are piveo M. s.lireiner, Der Kniiim hi itrr .111In German translation ilische Litrrntur. in Thirtfiitli Hijiurl of tin Ikriiii Lfh.
ranstalt, IsiK. pp.
."iT
«i.
K.
AARON EZEKIEL, HARIF iiii.re fully AARON JACOB BEN EZEKIEL HARIF T:
Huiigaiiun siholar; di<(l at Nikolslmrg, April 10, 1670. As successor to Gcrson Ashkenazi he held the post of rabbi in Xikolsburg at the same time that he was chief rabbi of the province of Moravia. The epithet "Ilarif " (The Keen Thinker) was also bestowed upon four of his ancestors. Ezekiel. .Jacob, Ezekiel. and Isaac. Possibly he attained to the title by personal meiit; for an inscription on his tombstone compares his death to the loss of the Ark of the Covenant.
M
niBi.io(iR.*pnY: H. Friedlander, Bcitragc zur tier Judcn in JIUhren. 187ii, p. 34.
OenchicMe
A. F. G.
