RaMBa”N). Sha’ar HaGemul [“The Gate of Reward:” A Treatise on the Afterlife]

MOSES BEN NACHMAN (NACHMANIDES).

Joseph ben Jacob Aschkenazi Gunzenhauser

(Naples)

(1490)

FIRST EDITION. On ff. 5r., 33v., 34v. owner’s signature, “Judah Gonzago.” On f.34v. also in Italian, “Leon Gonzago Hebr.” Some marginalia and corrigenda. On f.11v the word “apikorsim” (epicureans or unbelievers) and on f.15r the word “Talmud” censored by churchmen

Vinograd, Naples 11; Goff 89; Goldstein 89; Offenberg 99; Steinschneider, p. 1962, no. 6532, 55; Thes. A64; Wineman Cat. 37. Not in Cambridge University

Sha’ar HaGemul is but a single section (the thirtieth chapter) of Nachmanides’ comprehensive halachic work on death and mourning, Torath Ha’Adam. Because of its philosophical significance, this section merited a separate edition, printed almost thirty years before the remainder of the work in Constantinople, 1519 (See Kestenbaum & Company, Important Hebrew Printed Books, October 2004, Lot 42). In Sha’ar HaGemul, Nachmanides takes exception to Maimonides’ portrayal of the Afterlife. In Maimonides’ view, the Messianic era (yemoth ha-mashiach), which is very much this-worldly, is followed by a wholly spiritual Afterlife. Nachmanides’ scheme is diametrically opposed, with “olam ha-ba,” the World to Come, posing a temporary reality, followed by the ultimate Messianic state of affairs, which as said, constitutes a harmonious balance of body and soul. Chasidic philosophy, especially the teachings of Chabad Chassidism, opted for Nachmanides’ eschatology. See EJ, Vol. XII, cols. 781-2