The Chassid Yaavetz, the Spanish Expulsion and the War Against Philosophy

R. Yosef Yaavetz, known as the Chassid Yaavetz (ca. 1440-1508), was a leading rabbi at the time of the Spanish expulsion. Born in Lisbon, Portugal, he studied under Don Yitzchak Abarbanel and others. After the expulsion, he reached Italy and wandered the country together with his son R. Yitzchak. He came to the aid of his fellow Spanish exiles, preaching to them, encouraging them and strengthening their faith. The principles of faith and Divine Providence are topics stressed repeatedly in his works.

Or HaChaim, his most celebrated work, was reprinted in many editions. The book contains fierce censure of the rationalistic philosophy of the Middle Ages, which was widespread in Spain before the expulsion. The Chassid Yaavetz blames the preoccupation with philosophy over Torah study for the eventual demise of Spanish Jewry. His famously wrote about the importance of simple faith in face of coerced conversions, in that while scholars and philosophers succumbed to the pressure to convert, the simple people remained steadfast in their faith: "It was the women of Spain who had themselves and their husbands die to sanctify G-d's name, while the men who boasted of these sciences apostatized on the bitter day. And this is an enormous proof that if they had not learned those sciences that they studied but remained ignoramuses, their ignorance would have saved them, as 'G-d protects the ignorant'. But since they were not persuaded to believe in tradition… they denied or doubted all the principles of faith that could not be proven, such as reward and punishment and the resurrection of the dead. Therefore they did not exchange their portion in this world for something doubtful, and they joined the incorrigible apostate sect" (chapter 5). These sharp words echoed for hundreds of years, up to this very day, as a proof to the importance of simple faith.