"#JosephAlbo: Collected #Writings, #edited by #ShiraWeiss, is an important and welcome contribution to the study of #medieval #Jewish #philosophy, making the thought of the #Spaniard Joseph #Albo (1380-1444) newly accessible to contemporary readers.

Bringing together a full presentation of #Sefer #haIkkarim along with Albo’s lesser-known responsum, this volume offers both breadth and depth, illuminating a thinker often overshadowed by figures like #Maimonides (1138-1204) and his own teacher, #HasdaiCrescas (1340-1410/11). The #book is 1753 pages long, and contains the original #Hebrew on the left-hand pages and an easy-to-read modern #English #translation on the right.

Albo’s approach to #Judaism diverged from Maimonides ‘ emphasis on rationalism. He was influenced by #Crescas, who emphasized faith and the observance of #mitzvot (divine commands), an easier form of Judaism than the rigors of Maimonides’ rationalism."

https://www.sdjewishworld.com/2026/03/20/an-important-easy-to-read-philosophical-book/

"There is a line in #Spanish-#Jewish #philosopher #HasdaiCrescas’s letter to the #Jews of #Avignon, #France, that stops you cold. He is describing the 1391 massacres in #Spain, community by community, chronicling who died and who converted and who escaped.

Then he [...] writes: “Among the many who sanctified the Name of the Lord was my only son, who was a bridegroom and whom I have offered as a faultless lamb for sacrifice. I submit to God’s justice and take comfort in the thought of his excellent portion and his delightful lot.”

That sentence captures something essential about #Crescas. His son was murdered, his community decimated, the #yeshiva where he studied destroyed, the scholars he knew slaughtered. And through it all, he kept #writing #philosophy.

Hasdai Crescas: #CollectedWritings, #edited by #RoslynWeiss and published by The Library of the Jewish People, an imprint of #KorenPublishers Jerusalem [...], brings together all of Crescas’s surviving #writings."

https://www.jpost.com/history/article-887278#google_vignette