Jew and Philosopher: The Return to Maimonides in the Jewish Thought of Leo Strauss

293 Pages·1993·17.737 MB·English

by  Green, Kenneth Hart

Jew and Philosopher
SUNY Series in Judaica: Hermeneutics, Mysticism, and Religion
Edited by Michael Fishbane, Robert Goldenberg, and Arthur Green
Jew and Philosopher
The Return to Maimonides
in the Jewish Thought
of Leo Strauss
Kenneth Hart Green
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 1993 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced
in any manner whatsoever without written permission
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
critical articles and reviews
For information, address State University of New York Press,
State University Plaza, Albany, NY., 12246
Production by Cathleen Collins
Marketing by Fran Keneston
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Green, Kenneth Hart, 1953-
Jew and philosopher : the return to Maimonides in the Jewish
thought of Leo Strauss I Kenneth Hart Green,
p. cm. — (SUNY series in Judaica)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7914-1565-1 (hardcover) — ISBN 0-7914-1566-X (pbk.)
1. Strauss, Leo—Contributions in Jewish philosophy.
2. Philosophy, Jewish. 3. Philosophy, Medieval. 4. Maimonides,
Moses, 1135-1204. I. Title. II. Series.
BM755.S75G74 1993
181' .06—dc20 92-31572
CIP
10 987654321
To my sons,
Alexander, Daniel, and Jonathan
״Therefore put these My words
in your heart and in your soul,. . .
And teach them to your children.״
(Deut. 11:18, 19)
RECHA: ״Ah, I see, on Sinai! Very good! Now I'll
learn at last from one who really knows whether
it is true. . .״
TEMPLAR: ״What would you like to know? Whether
it's really true that the very spot can still be seen,
where Moses stood with God when. . ."
RECHA: ״No, that's not it. Wherever he stood, it
was before the Lord. That's all I need to know But
what I'd like to verify is this: Is it really true what
people say, that it's much less difficult to go up
this mountain than to come down again? For, you
see, all the hills I've climbed, I've found the
opposite to be true."
—G.E. Lessing, Nathan the Wise
Act 3, scene 2.
C O N T E N TS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IX
PREFACE XI
INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER 1 ״In the Grip of the Theological-Political Predicament״
THE CRISIS OF REASON AND REVELATION
IN MODERN JEWISH PHILOSOPHY 5
CHAPTER 2 Is a ״Return״ to Maimonides Possible?
THE OBSTACLES AND THEIR SURMOUNTING 29
CHAPTER 3 The Gradual Awakening
THE "PRE-MAIMONIDEAN" STRAUSS 49
CHAPTER 4 Maimonides as Philosophical Theologian
STRAUSS'S TURN TO MEDIEVAL JEWISH THEOLOGY 67
CHAPTER 5 Maimonides as Platonic Philosopher-Statesman
STRAUSS'S ARGUMENT FOR THE NECESSARILY POLITICAL
BASIS FOR THE JEWISH PHILOSOPHIC LIFE 93
CHAPTER 6 Maimonides as Esoteric Writer
STRAUSS'S REDISCOVERY OF THE PHILOSOPHERS׳
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE IN MAIMONIDES׳ GUIDE 111
CHAPTER 7 Conclusion
MAIMONIDES AND STRAUSS 135
NOTES 139
BIBLIOGRAPHY 243
INDEX 265

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
THE PRESENT STUDY BEGAN as a doctoral dissertation, supervised by
Marvin Fox, at Brandeis University In the course of preparing this study
for publication, which is a thoroughly revised version of that original
work, I received generous help from many teachers, friends, and
organizations.
I would first like to gratefully acknowledge by name several
institutions whose financial aid through fellowships made it possible
for me to work on the original dissertation and on the revised version:
the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the
Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, the Woodrow Wilson National
Fellowship Foundation, and Brandeis University. I would also like to
thank both the Tauber Institute (and its first director, Bernard
Wasserstein), whose Doctoral Research Award allowed me to travel to
Chicago in 1984 to do research in the Leo Strauss Archive at the Library
of the University of Chicago, and University College at the University
of Toronto, whose Harcourt Brown Fellowship allowed me make a
subsequent research trip to the Archive in 1991. In this connection, I
would like to express my gratitude to Joseph Cropsey, who kindly
permitted me to do research in the Archive, and who has been of great
assistance to me ever since in relation to my continuing work on the
Jewish thought of Leo Strauss.
There are a few individuals to whom I owe a special debt, and
without whom I may never have persevered in the face of such a long
and arduous task. I must begin by thanking Emil Fackenheim for igniting
in me the spark and passion of Jewish philosophy, and for first pointing
me toward Leo Strauss as a great modern Jewish thinker. To the late
Alexander Altmann I will always be grateful for his showing such
gracious kindness to a young graduate student, and for sharing the
ix