<<RaLBa’G).>> Milchamoth Hashem [“Wars of the Lord”: philosophy]

Levi ben Gershom (1288-1344), a native of Languedoc in the south of France, was a polymath, excelling in the fields of Biblical exegesis, philosophy, mathematics and astronomy and was likely the last distinguished Aristotelian not only in the Jewish world, but in all of Medieval Europe. Milchamoth Hashem analyzes philosophical matters pertaining to the immortality of the Soul, the nature of prophecy, Divine omniscience and providence, the nature of the heavenly spheres and the question of the eternity of matter. For an analysis of Gersonides’ inquires found in Milchamoth Hashem alongside a critical comparison to Aristotle’s beliefs, see I. Zinberg, A History of Jewish Literature, Vol. III, pp. 129-39; see also G. Freudenthal (Ed.) Studies on Gersonides: A Fourteenth-Century Jewish Philosopher-Scientist (1992).