More Neboche ha-seman sive Director errantium nostrae aetetis, Opus ad illustrandas Judaeorum antiquitates et leges, Philosophiamque, inprimis celeberrimi Aben Esrae doctrinam de divino

Leopoli: Michaelis F. Poremba, 1863. Second edition completely revised and greatly expanded. Hardcover. g. Quarto. 262, 66pp. Modern decorative leatherette with gold lettering on spine. Second edition of Nachman Kohen Krochmal's masterpiece. Moreh Nebukhe ha-Zeman (Guide for the Perplexed of the Time) is divided into seventeen chapters, of which the first six deal with religion in general. Ch. vii describes Israel's spiritual gift as the desire for and faculty of seeking God. The next three chapters contain a philosophical analysis of Jewish history, which, corresponding to Israel's attachment to the Lord, that is, to its religious development, is divided into three epochs. These epochs terminate respectively: with the death of Gedaliah after the destruction of the Temple; with the death of Bar Kokba (ca. 135); and with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain (1492). The author does not characterize the modern period in which he himself lived. Ch. xi-xv deal with the post-exilic Biblical and the Apocryphal literature and with the various religious movements. The author discusses also the necessity of tradition and gives a critical résumé of the development of the Halakhah and Haggadah. Ch. xvi gives a brief sketch of the future development of Jewish religious philosophy based on the principles of Hegel. The work finishes with an exposition of Ibn Ezra's philosophy. The historical digressions in the book touch the profoundest problems of Jewish science; and it remains their indisputable merit to have paved the way for critical studies in Jewish history. The work really became, as intended by the author, a "guide" to students of Jewish science in the nineteenth century. Some foxing throughout. Text in Hebrew. Binding in overall very good, interior in good condition.