Kuzari (2:66): Shlomo spoke with Divine power as well as his great intellect and natural talents concerning all types of knowledge. From the ends of the earth, people came to him to hear his knowledge and to transmit it to the world — even as far as India. In truth the root of all wisdom and its principles was copied from the Jews — first by the Chaldeans and afterwards the Persians and Medes. Afterwards this knowledge went to the Greeks and Romans. However, because these events are distant in time and there are many intermediaries in the process - it has not been mentioned in the books of science and wisdom that it was taken originally from the Jews. These books mention only that they originated in Greek and Roman sources. …
Rema (Toras HaOlah 1:11): In truth all the wisdom of philosophy and intellectual analysis originated from the Jews. All the secular wisdom is in fact contained within the Torah. The Rambam demonstrates in great detail in the Moreh Nevuchim that all philosophical wisdom is found in the medrash and aggados of our Sages. You should know that I saw a very ancient document that described the development of all philosophy. It stated that Socrates was considered the first philosopher. It also says that he obtained this wisdom from Assaf and from Achitofel. It also says in the Paths of Faith that the philosophy of Aristotle was stolen from the wisdom of Shlomo HaMelech. When Alexander the Great captured Jerusalem, he gave control of Shlomo HaMelech’s library to his teacher Aristotle. Whatever good things he found there he wrote his name on it and then added some of his own incorrect thoughts such as the world had no beginning and the denial of Providence. This was done in order to conceal the fact that his material was in fact stolen from the wisdom of the Jews. Alternatively, it is possible that whatever he found that did not have clear-cut proofs in the works of Shlomo - he simply did not believe. We see however that the basis of all wisdom hangs from this vine. In truth, every Jew should believe in this system and not to give a pride and glory to strangers - the wise men of the gentiles. In fact, Shlomo was praised for being able to speak to the cedars of Lebanon and the hyssop growing on the wall. If it hadn’t been for the fact that the basis of this wisdom was stolen from him, there would be nothing praiseworthy in Aristotle and those that came after him…Therefore it is proper to believe in these things. Just as we have written that is the way it is.
Rema (Toras HaOlah 3:4): And R’ Moshe Butreal wrote in his commentary to Sefer Yetzira that the wisdom of Kabbala is the wisdom of philosophy but expressed in a different language… The way of Kabbala is itself the way of true and reliable philosophy.
Rema (Toras HaOlah 1:11): In truth all the wisdom of philosophy and intellectual analysis originated from the Jews. All the secular wisdom is in fact contained within the Torah. The Rambam demonstrates in great detail in the Moreh Nevuchim that all philosophical wisdom is found in the medrash and aggados of our Sages. You should know that I saw a very ancient document that described the development of all philosophy. It stated that Socrates was considered the first philosopher. It also says that he obtained this wisdom from Assaf and from Achitofel. It also says in the Paths of Faith that the philosophy of Aristotle was stolen from the wisdom of Shlomo HaMelech. When Alexander the Great captured Jerusalem, he gave control of Shlomo HaMelech’s library to his teacher Aristotle. Whatever good things he found there he wrote his name on it and then added some of his own incorrect thoughts such as the world had no beginning and the denial of Providence. This was done in order to conceal the fact that his material was in fact stolen from the wisdom of the Jews. Alternatively, it is possible that whatever he found that did not have clear-cut proofs in the works of Shlomo - he simply did not believe. We see however that the basis of all wisdom hangs from this vine. In truth, every Jew should believe in this system and not to give a pride and glory to strangers - the wise men of the gentiles. In fact, Shlomo was praised for being able to speak to the cedars of Lebanon and the hyssop growing on the wall. If it hadn’t been for the fact that the basis of this wisdom was stolen from him, there would be nothing praiseworthy in Aristotle and those that came after him…Therefore it is proper to believe in these things. Just as we have written that is the way it is.
Rema (Toras HaOlah 3:4): And R’ Moshe Butreal wrote in his commentary to Sefer Yetzira that the wisdom of Kabbala is the wisdom of philosophy but expressed in a different language… The way of Kabbala is itself the way of true and reliable philosophy.
Avraham Melamed has just put out a sefer published by Magnes Press and Haifa University called "Rakchot U'Tavchot" going through the origin of this myth and its use up till present times in Jewish and even the Christians and Moslems sources! Since the book is a work on intellectual history and as such he doesn't really deal with if the myth is true, but he clearly implies that it isn't.
ReplyDeleteYou just know that Tropper's supporters are probably going to use this post to "prove" you are a "maskil".
ReplyDeleteIf this is actually true, then there should be no oppostion to the study of Greek philosophy, since it is essentially wisdom of Solomon.
ReplyDeleteIt is also ironic that such claims are made, in that Shlomo Hamelech is usually downgraded by the rabbis, in favour of David Hamelech. His books, especially Koheleth are not paid any attention, and although it is read once a year , it does not get much attention as something to study seriously.
I actually hold by a similar idea, regarding the Torah itself and the Nach. Not only does it contain philosophical wisdom, but also Halachic / legal wisdom. However, my views are to heretical to go any further!
Rabbi,
ReplyDeleteAre all these paragraphs that are quotes of rishonim/achronim taken from you Daas Torah sefer?
There is a modern philosopher called Dr Avi Sion , who knows secular and Jewish philosophy. He writes that a concept that Aristotle wrote around 500 BCE, which is the basis of modern science - the theory of adduction - was already written in the Torah around 1300 BCE, 800 years prior to Aristo!
ReplyDeleteThe theory is encapsualated in the test for a Navi, ie experimenting if his predictions come true!