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A thorough discussion of cremation, emphasizing its prohibition, according to Jewish law, as developed from the Bible and Talmud by R. Elijah ben Abraham Benamozegh. The book is in two parts, the Hebrew text being accompanied by an Italian section at the end entitled la cremazione dei cadaveri e il rito israelilico. The Hebrew title page states that it is to respond to the question concerning the practice of burning the dead called cremation and that R. Benamozegh has placed this question before the sages of the yeshivah. Printed previously this edition is issued, apparently by his sons, in honor of their father.
R. Elijah b. Abraham Benamozegh (1822–1900), Italian rabbi and philosopher. R. Benamozegh was born in Leghorn of Moroccan parents, members of a wealthy Moroccan family of merchants and rabbis. He served as rabbi in Leghorn and as professor of theology in the rabbinical school of that city, and wrote numerous works in Hebrew, French, and Italian, in which he attempted to present a systematic exposition and interpretation of the doctrines of Judaism, and to point out the affinities between Judaism and contemporary secular philosophy. R. Benamozegh was influenced by the culture of the Jews of Morocco and the East, in which the Kabbalah played an important role, and by the secular philosophy of his day, in particular by the Italian philosophers Rosmini-Serbati and Gioberti. He regarded the Kabbalah as an essential component of Judaism, defending it against the attacks of many of his contemporaries. Regarding Judaism as a synthesis of the universal eternal truths which are scattered throughout the religions, philosophies, and mythologies of other peoples, he believed that the study of Judaism was essential for the solution of the religious questions of mankind at large. |
