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

Milchamoth Hashem is the classic work of Gersonides, whose philosophy is even more Aristotelian than that of his predecessor Maimonides. 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. For an analysis of Gersonides’ inquires in Milchamoth Hashem and 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 (Brill)