RaMBa”N). Sha’ar HaGemul [treatise on the Afterlife]

MOSES BEN NACHMAN (NACHMANIDES

Joseph ben Jacob Aschkenazi Gunzenhauser

(Naples)

1490

FIRST EDITION. Signed by censor at end. The Delmonico copy.

Vinograd, Naples 11; Goff 89; Offenberg 99; Steinschneider, p. 1962, no. 6532, 55; Thes. A64; Wineman Cat. 37.

A RARE COMPLETE COPY. Sha’ar HaGemul is a single section (the thirtieth chapter) of Nachmanides’ comprehensive halachic work on death and mourning: Torath Ha’Adam. Because of its theological significance, this section merited a separate edition and appeared almost thirty years before the full work (Constantinople, 1519). In Sha’ar HaGemul, Nachmanides takes exception to Maimonides’ portrayal of the Afterlife. In Maimonides’ view, the Messianic era, which is very much this-worldly, is followed by a wholly spiritual Afterlife. Nachmanides’ scheme is diametrically opposed, with 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.