Disputation of Tortosa - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Disputation of Tortosa, one of the famous disputation

Disputation

In the scholastic system of education of the Middle Ages, disputations offered a formalized method of debate designed to uncover and establish truths in theology and in sciences...

s between Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

and Christians of the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

, was held in the years 1413–1414 in the city of Tortosa

Tortosa

-External links:* *** * * *...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

.

Among the participants on the Jewish side were Profiat Duran

Profiat Duran

Profiat Duran , also known as Efodi ; also known as Isaac ben Moses ha-Levi; was a physician, philosopher, grammarian, and controversialist in the 14th century. It is not known whether he was born at Perpignan, where he lived for some years, or in another Catalonian town...

(Efodi) and Rabbi Yosef Albo as well as other Rabbinic scholars such as Rabbi Zerachia HaLevi, Rabbi Moshe ben Abbas, and Rabbi Astruc HaLevi. Each one was a representative of a different community. Vincent Ferrer

Vincent Ferrer

Saint Vincent Ferrer was a Valencian Dominican missionary and logician.-Early life:Vincent was the fourth child of the Anglo-Scottish nobleman William Stewart Ferrer and his Spanish wife, Constantia Miguel. Legends surround his birth...

, later canonised, was an important participant on the Christian side.

Background

The initiator of the disputation and representative for the Christians was the Pope's

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

personal physician

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

, the Jewish Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

convert

Convert

The convert or try, in American football known as "point after", and Canadian football "Point after touchdown", is a one-scrimmage down played immediately after a touchdown during which the scoring team is allowed to attempt to score an extra one point by kicking the ball through the uprights , or...

Joshua Lorqui. After his conversion to Christianity, Lorqui presented his employer, Antipope

Antipope

An antipope is a person who opposes a legitimately elected or sitting Pope and makes a significantly accepted competing claim to be the Pope, the Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman Catholic Church. At times between the 3rd and mid-15th century, antipopes were typically those supported by a...

or Avignon Pope Benedict XIII, with a composition containing topics to contest with his former co-religionists. The aging pope, who rejoiced at religious debate, jumped at the opportunity to bring the Jews to a disputation. King Ferdinand I

Ferdinand I of Aragon

Ferdinand I called of Antequera and also the Just or the Honest) was king of Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia and Corsica and king of Sicily, duke of Athens and Neopatria, and count of Barcelona, Roussillon and Cerdanya...

, then ruler of Aragon

Aragon

Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...

, did not stand in his way, and letters of invitation were sent to the various Jewish communities in 1413. Attempts by the Jews to free themselves of this were not successful.

The Jewish representatives were at a considerable disadvantage—far worse than the position of Nahmanides

Nahmanides

Nahmanides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Naḥman Girondi, Bonastruc ça Porta and by his acronym Ramban, , was a leading medieval Jewish scholar, Catalan rabbi, philosopher, physician, kabbalist, and biblical commentator.-Name:"Nahmanides" is a Greek-influenced formation meaning "son of Naḥman"...

at the Disputation of Barcelona

Disputation of Barcelona

The Disputation of Barcelona was held at the royal palace of King James I of Aragon in the presence of the King, his court, and many prominent ecclesiastical dignitaries and knights, between Dominican Friar Pablo Christiani, a convert from Judaism to Christianity, and Rabbi Nachmanides The...

. The disputation was not a free discussion between two parties but took the form of a propaganda attack by the Christian side against Jews, including the use of psychological pressure in the form of intimidation and threats. Before them stood a former Jew who was proficient in the Aggadic midrashim and made use of them to justify the Christian viewpoint.

Beginnings

The Jews first met with the Pope, who resided then in the city in the region of his birth, and he promised to treat them well and to provide them good accommodations. However, his intentions were clear: he did not wish to hold a debate between equals, but rather to use the gathering for upholding the Christian faith.

At the start of the disputation on February 7, 1413, Joshua Lorqui (Geronimo) presented the debate's principal points and the prohibition incumbent on the Jews from making any difficulties for Christianity over its course. By his words, since the Jewish faith is close to the Christian faith and since the Pope considers the Jews "lost lambs", he is eager to return them to Good more than he is eager to do so with the believers in Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

. The main speaker among the Jewish sages was chosen by turn each day. They were placed under great stress, and at times when they returned to the residence allotted to them arguments erupted over the answers they had provided. Their opponent was always granted the last word.

The apostate emphasized the Midrash

Midrash

The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....

ic passages according to which the Messiah

Messiah

A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...

had already come. These include the passage which identifies the birthday of the Messiah as the day of the Destruction of the Second Temple and the statement in the Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

that the world will last 6000 years of which the last two thousand would be the Messianic Age

Messianic Age

Messianic Age is a theological term referring to a future time of universal peace and brotherhood on the earth, without crime, war and poverty. Many religions believe that there will be such an age; some refer to it as the "Kingdom of God" or the "World to Come".- Terminology: "messianic" and...

. He also used the midrash of the Psikta which says that the Messiah will suffer.

The Jews responded via a commentary to the midrashim that relied on both the surface (Peshat

Peshat

Peshat is one of four classical methods of Jewish biblical exegesis used by Rabbis and Jewish bible scholars in reading the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Tanakh. Peshat is part of a group of exegetical methods known together as Pardes...

) and exegetic

Exegesis

Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term "Biblical exegesis" is used...

(Drash

Drash

Drash may refer to:* Midrash, a Hebrew word referring to a method of exegesis of a Biblical text* Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelter , a portable shelter* Alan Drash, pediatric endocrinologist* Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash, a computer game...

) meanings to remove the Messianic sting. They also repeated the statement of Nahmanides in his own disputation that he is not obligated to believe in Aggadah

Aggadah

Aggadah refers to the homiletic and non-legalistic exegetical texts in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, particularly as recorded in the Talmud and Midrash...

, which led Geronimo to depict them as heretics

Heresy

Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...

by their own religion. The Jews also pointed out that, in any case, belief in the Messiah is not the mainstay of Judaism. This point was to appear in an explicit and expanded form in the Sefer Ha'Ikarim ("Book of Fundamental Principles"), which Rabbi Yosef Albo wrote following the disputation.

Geronimo also utilized the midrashim published by Raymundo Martini in his book Pugio Fidei. The Jews claimed these to be fraudulent forgeries and demanded that the original Jewish manuscript in which the midrashim appear be brought before them, but the demand was not granted. The question of whether the midrashim offered by Raymundo were indeed forgeries has been a controversial one among scholars.

After two weeks of discussion (which was held on Shabbat

Shabbat

Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...

as well), the head of the Dominican Order

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...

summed up, saying that the victory of the Christians is clear and that it was proven with certainty by the Jews' own midrashim that the Messiah has already come. Thus there were two possibilities: either the Jewish representatives did not have all their say, or that they are without answer. The Pope summed up and said that since the Jews change their words from one moment to another it would be better to hold the disputation in writing. Thus the disputation continued by way of readings of written memoranda through the months of March and April.

The Jews requested a free debate, but they were told that they are not at a debate but at a gathering for indoctrination and inculcation. When they said that a teacher should consider the wishes of the student, they were told that there is no interest in indoctrinating them, only the Jewish masses. As a way of undervaluing themselves, the sages said that mistakes and errors might befall them, but the Law of Moses

Torah

Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

is forever.

Geronimo insisted on using again and again the midrashim from the Dagger of Faith and to abstain when asked to show the manuscript in which they appear.

Second phase of the disputation

From May onward the discussion focused on the things the Messiah is supposed to accomplish. The Jews claimed that he is to take the Nation of Israel out of the Diaspora

Diaspora

A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...

and to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem

Temple in Jerusalem

The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...

- things Jesus did not do. The Christians offered these conditions an allegorical interpretation.

The Jews' main points were: the Diaspora still exists, even Christianity has not spread everywhere, the nations fight one another, there is no world peace, and people continue to sin

Sin

In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...

. In any case, the Redemption of Israel must be the redemption of the Jews, and that has certainly not occurred. The gentiles cannot be called "Israel" (as opposed to the Church's position

Supersessionism

Supersessionism is a term for the dominant Christian view of the Old Covenant, also called fulfillment theology and replacement theology, though the latter term is disputed...

).

The Christians forcefully argued that in the midrashim themselves it may be seen that the redemption brought by the Messiah is spiritual, that is, it is atonement for Man and the extrication of the souls from Hell

Hell

In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...

. The Jews responded that for the redemption of souls there is no need for a messiah: observers of Mitzvot in every generation achieve salvation in the afterlife

Jewish eschatology

Jewish eschatology is concerned with the Jewish Messiah, afterlife, and the revival of the dead. Eschatology, generically, is the area of theology and philosophy concerned with the final events in the history of the world, the ultimate destiny of humanity, and related concepts.-The Messiah:The...

without a messiah.

An interesting topic discussed in the disputation is the future abolition of the sacrifices. Geronimo claimed, using among other sources the famous pronouncement of Maimonides

Maimonides

Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...

that sacrifices are a psychological substitute for paganism

Paganism

Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....

, that sacrifices will eventually be abolished. The Jews maintained that sacrifices will persist in the Messianic Era, and that besides the rational explanations for them there are also mystical ones.

The Jewish religious leaders fiercely rejected the claim that their refusal to accept the religion of Jesus is the reason for the lengthening of the Exile, for if they had accepted the Islamic religion and turned to such nations as the Ottomans, they would also have been freed from bondage.

The source of inspiration for the Jews was Nahmanides, and they used few opinions derived from the Maimonides school of thought.

Jewish historian Yitzhak Baer

Yitzhak Baer

Yitzhak Baer was German-Israeli historian and an expert in medieval Spanish Jewish history.-Early life:Baer was born in Halberstadt, Germany, in 1888...

summarizes:

The answers the Jewish religious leaders gave at this stage of the great disputation are among the most excellent responses of the defenders of Israel to the Christians in the whole of the Middle Ages. They explicated the messianic teachings of the Mishnaic and Talmudic sages with such depth and clarity that has never been seen, not before them nor after them. It is a shame that they did not assemble their points in a Hebrew composition for their own and future generations.

Third phase of the disputation

Between August and November there was a recess in the discussions, and a new series of meetings opened in actuality only on January 8, 1414. Only three of the Jewish leaders agreed to continue. Rabbi Yosef Albo asked to return home, yet in the end remained in the city.

The Jews declared that the Christians were making strange use of the midrashim. Even by their reasoning, according to which the midrashim indicate that the Messiah has already come, they certainly do not indicate that he came in the time of Jesus. If so, how can they be used to prove the truthfulness of Christianity?

The Christians responded that they indeed are not obligated to believe in the midrashim, but the Jews, who do believe in them, must conclude from them that the Messiah was already born. The Jews again explained why they thought there was no logic in this claim.

As the discussions on the doctrine of the Messiah continued, Rabbi Astruc HaLevi emphasized that the word "messiah" in its Jewish and Christian meanings is completely different. Thus, he said, there is no difference of opinion between Jews and Christians over the question of his coming, rather the debate is over what a messiah really is. Afterwards, he nullified the significance of the debate. A failure in the debate cannot prove the failure of the faith, but only the inabilities of the arguer. The Jewish religious leaders are far from their homes and are losing their properties because of this, and their families are being harmed. Their situation is so degraded that no great wisdom is needed to debate them in these conditions.

Geronimo responded that their scared and frightened demeanors in themselves prove that their belief is not true, for on the true faith it is said in the bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

: "I will also speak of Thy testimonies before kings, and will not be ashamed" (Ps. 119:46). The disputation over faith is necessary, and the Jewish leaders must give an accounting for the Torah, which they teach.

Rabbi Zerachia HaLevi then emphasized that the belief in the Messiah is a principle of faith

Jewish principles of faith

The concept of an explicit, paramount definition of faith does not exist in Judaism as it does in other monotheistic religions such as Christianity. Although Jews and religious leaders share a core of monotheistic principles, and there are many fundamental principles quoted in the Talmud to define...

by which the midrashim must be interpreted. Thus he rejected the attempt to produce arguments against the principle of the Messiah from the midrash, for the interpretation must use the principle of faith to elucidate the midrash, not the reverse.

In April, Geronimo summarized the disputation according to his own understanding, and thus ended the exchange over the matter of the Messiah.

Debate over the Talmud

Immediately, discussion turned to a new topic, around which revolved the earlier Disputation of Paris

Disputation of Paris

The Disputation of Paris took place in 1240 in the court of the reigning king of France, Louis IX . The disputation had four rabbis defending the Talmud against the accusations of a Franciscan Order member.-Disputers:...

of 1240: "the errors, heresies, defilements, and blasphemies against the Christian religion" found in the Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

.

At this point, the Jews apparently decided that it is better for them to keep quiet, and said that though they are convinced that the sages of the Talmud would know how to defend their words, they do not know how to do so. Rabbi Yosef Albo and Rabbi Zerachia HaLevi did not participate in this communication and agreed to respond, but their responses are not known.

Geronimo demanded to burn the Talmud. Interestingly, he used the dispute over the works of Maimonides

Maimonides

, which ended with the burning of his books, to justify burning a book

Book burning

Book burning, biblioclasm or libricide is the practice of destroying, often ceremoniously, books or other written material and media. In modern times, other forms of media, such as phonograph records, video tapes, and CDs have also been ceremoniously burned, torched, or shredded...

even if only a small part of it is heretical.

It seems that most of the Jewish religious leaders reached the conclusion that a continuation of the disputation would exact a heavy cost and that the harm brought in their absence upon their communities and families was intolerable, so they decided to end it at all costs. It is not known what those among them who decided to continue said in the remainder, and in December 1414 the disputation was formally concluded.

Results of the disputation

The Pope claimed that he had a victory, and he gave instructions by which all books of the Talmud would be handed over to his functionaries for censorship

Censorship

thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...

. This order brought some comfort, indeed, there was fear that there would be a general burning of the Talmud.

Compulsory conversions of the Jews continued, though they were not given official encouragement. However, Jews who were coerced into becoming Christian could, if they wished, return to their own religion. Vincent Ferrer

Vincent Ferrer

passed through the communities and compelled the Jews to hear his sermons, then took his campaign north to France in 1416; that year a new king, Alfonso V

Alfonso V of Aragon

Alfonso the Magnanimous KG was the King of Aragon , Valencia , Majorca, Sardinia and Corsica , and Sicily and Count of Barcelona from 1416 and King of Naples from 1442 until his death...

, took to the throne in Aragon, and subsequently reversed all the anti-Jewish legislation of the Ferrer epoch, protecting the Jews and converso

Converso

A converso and its feminine form conversa was a Jew or Muslim—or a descendant of Jews or Muslims—who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries. Mass conversions once took place under significant government pressure...

s firmly from the start of his reign and rejecting all attacks on them.

Most of the damage caused as a result of the disputation was to morale. Aragon Jewry suffered a hard blow and many of its dignitaries and wealthy converted. The feeling was that the Jews had gotten the worst of it in the confrontation with Geronimo. The Christian propaganda implanted rumors of the Jewish emissaries’ defeat.

After the fact, Isaac Abrabanel

Isaac Abrabanel

Isaac ben Judah Abrabanel, , commonly referred to just as Abarbanel, was a Portuguese Jewish statesman, philosopher, Bible commentator, and financier.-Biography:...

criticized the weakness of the arguments brought forward by the Jewish religious leaders, but it appears that under their duress, their ability to succeed was more limited.