Physical Description

[2], 75, 7 [ie 13], [3] ff., quarto, 232:178 mm., light age and damp staining, wide margins. A good copy bound in contemporary boards, rubbed, front panel detached.

Detailed Description  

Text with commentay of Menahem Mendel Lefin (also Menahem Mendel Levin) (1749–1826) an early leader of the Haskalah movement. He was born in Satanov, Podolia, where he had a traditional Jewish education supplemented by studies in science, mathematics, and medieval philosophy. In the early 1780s he lived in Berlin, where he met Moses Mendelssohn and other Haskalah leaders. He was later introduced to Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski, and became a tutor to Czartoryski's children in Podolia. He spent most of his life living in Galicia, and had great influence on Nachman Krochmal and Joseph Perl. He is widely regarded as the "father of the Galician Haskalah." He campaigned in favor of adding general education to the standard curriculum in Jewish schools, and he was a fierce opponent of the Hasidic movement and the Kabbalah, which he viewed as "nonsense." Among his influential works is a Musar text titled Cheshbon Ha-Nefesh (Moral Accounting), which was published in 1809, based in part on the ethical program described in the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Levin died in Tarnopol in 1826.

Maimonides wrote his work for someone who was firm in his religious beliefs and practices, but, having studied philosophy, was perplexed by the literal meaning of biblical anthropomorphic and anthropopathic terms. To this person Maimonides showed that these difficult terms have a spiritual meaning besides their literal one, and that it is the spiritual meaning that applies to G-d. Maimonides also undertook in the Guide the explanation of obscure biblical parables. Thus, the Guide is devoted to the philosophic interpretation of Scripture, or, to use Maimonides' terms, to the "science of the Law in its true sense" or to the "secrets of the Law" (Guide, introd.).

The enigmatic nature of the Guide imposed great difficulties on medieval and modern commentators, and two schools of interpretation arose. Some, while aware of Maimonides' method, consider him a philosopher who attempted to harmonize the teachings of religion with those of philosophy. Others, however, considered Maimonides a philosopher, whose views were in agreement with those of the rationalistic Aristotelians, and who expressed religious opinions largely as a concession to the understanding of the masses. For example, Maimonides, according to the first interpretation, believed that the world was created, while according to the second, his true view was that the world is eternal.

Hebrew Description

... מתורגם בלשון המשנה... עפ"י... מו"ה מענדיל לעפין (חלק ראשון)..

בשולי השער אישור הצנזור משנת 1829. אך בהקדמה נזכר מותו של יעקב שמואל ביק, ט בסיון תקצ"א, בעודנו עוסק בהחתמת מנויים על הספר. לעדותו של מאיר לעטעריס (תולדות רנ"ק, עמ’ 13) נדפס הספר בשנת תקצ"ג.

דף [2]: הקדמת המביא לבית הדפוס, בלא חתימה. הוא תלמידו של לעפין, מרדכי סוחוסטאבר: "ועלי... הטילו הדפסת הספר והגהתו... שכמעט בכל מאמר ומאמר מצאתי כמה דברים לתקן... כי... המחבר... מוכרח הי’ להשתמש... בכותבים... שלא היו בקיאים... שגו... בעיוות... רעיון המאמרים".

תרגום שמואל אבן-תיבון ותרגום מענדיל לעפין נדפסו עמודה מול עמודה. פרקים עג-עו נדפסו בתרגומו של אבן-תיבון בלבד, בצירוף פירוש אפודי.

לא נדפס יותר.

פתיחתו של לעפין לתרגומו, בשם "אלון מורה", נדפסה כהוספה להמליץ [תרכ"ז]. עיין: לפין, מנחם מנדל בן יהודה ליב.

יין: יוסף קלוזנר, היסטוריה של הספרות העברית החדשה, ירושלים תשי"ב, עמ’ 247-251.

References  

Rubinstein, Avraham (2007). "Levin (Lefin), Menahem Mendel." Encyclopaedia Judaica. 2nd ed. Vol. 12. p. 710-711; Bibliography of the Hebrew Book 1470-1960 #000149992