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Bahya ben Asher ibn Halawa (בחיי בן אשר אבן חלואה, 1255–1340) was arabbi and scholar ofJudaism, best known as a commentator on theHebrew Bible. He is one of two scholars now referred to asRabbeinu Behaye, the other being philosopherBahya ibn Paquda.
Bahya was a pupil of RabbiShlomo ibn Aderet (theRashba). Unlike the latter, Bahya did not publish a Talmud commentary; he is, however, considered by Jewish scholars to be one of the most distinguished of the biblicalexegetes ofSpain. He "discharged with zeal" the duties of adarshan (Hebrew for "expounder") in his native city ofZaragoza, sharing this position with several others. He is buried inKadarim, Israel, a few minutes walking distance from the prophetHabakkuk.
Bahya's principal work is his commentary on theTorah (the five books of Moses), but he is also known for others, especiallyKad ha-Kemah.
The commentary on theTorah - "מדרש רבינו בחיי על התורה " - enjoyed much favor, as attested to by the numerous supercommentaries published on it (not less than ten are enumerated by Bernstein (Monatsschrift xviii. 194-196)).Owing to the large space devoted to the Kabbalah, the work was also particularly valuable to Kabbalists.
It considered to "derive a particular charm" from its form: Eachparashah, or weekly lesson, is prefaced by an introduction preparing the reader for the fundamental ideas to be discussed; and this introduction bears a motto in the form of some verse selected from theBook of Mishlei (Proverbs). Furthermore, by the questions that are frequently raised the reader is compelled to take part in the author's mental processes; the danger of monotony being also thereby removed.
In preparing his commentary "he thoroughly investigated" the works of former biblicalexegetes, using all the methods employed by them in his interpretations; although Rabbi Bahya also availed himself of non-Jewish sources. In his biblical exegesis, Bahya took as his model Rabbi Moses ben Nahman (Nachmanides) orRamban, the teacher of Rabbi Shlomo ibn Aderet, who was the first major commentator to make extensive use of theKabbalah as a means of interpreting the Torah. He enumerates the following four methods, all of which in his opinion are indispensable to the exegete:[citation needed]
The commentary was first printed at Naples in 1492; Later editions of the commentary appeared at Pesaro, 1507, 1514, and 1517; Constantinople, 1517; Rimini, 1524; Venice, 1544, 1546, 1559, 1566, and later.
Bahya's next most famous work is hisKad ha-Kemah ( כד הקמח, "The Flour-Jar";Constantinople, 1515.) It consists of sixty chapters, alphabetically arranged, containing discourses and dissertations on the requirements of religion and morality, as well as Jewish ritual practices.Kad ha-Kemah is both a work ofmusar (ethics) and philosophy: It is regarded as a work of ethics, in that its purpose is to promote a moral life; it is a work of philosophy in that Rabbeinu Bahya endeavors to give his ethical teachings a philosophical aspect.In this work Bahya discusses the following subjects: belief and faith in God; the divine attributes and the nature of providence; the duty of loving God, and of walking before God in simplicity and humility of heart; the fear of God;Jewish prayer; benevolence, and the love of mankind; peace; the administration ofjustice, and the sacredness of the oath; the duty of respecting the property and honor of one's fellow man; theJewish holidays, andhalakha ("Jewish law".)
Another work of Bahya's is theShulkhan Shel Arba ("Table of Four"). It consists of four chapters, the first three of which contain religious rules of conduct regardingthe various meals, while the fourth chapter treats ofthe banquet of the righteous inthe world to come.It has also been published frequently, and the firstMantua edition of 1514 was erroneously ascribed to Nachmanides.
A work might have been written by Rabbi Bahye under the title ofHoshen ha-Mishpat (Breastplate of Judgment). Reference to this work is made only once by him, and it is unknown if this work was actually written or not.
A number of works whose author is simply "Bahya", or whose authors are unknown, have been attributed to Rabbi Bahye ben Asher. Many modern day authorities on Rabbi Bahya's writings have shown that many of these attributions are spurious.[citation needed]
One book ostensibly written by Bahya, edited by M. Homburg under the title ofSoba Semakhot ("Fulness of Joy"), as being a commentary on theBook of Job, is actually a compilation made by a later editor from two of Bahye's actual works,Kad ha-Kemah (Constantinople, 1515) andShulhan shel Arba (Mantua, 1514).
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906)."BAḤYA (BEḤAI) BEN ASHER BEN HALAWA".The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
