The Secret of the Torah: A Translation of Ibn Ezra’s Yesod Mora

Ibn Ezra’s Long-Overlooked Philosophical Masterpiece

Poet, mathematician, and Bible commentator, Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra (1092-1167) emerged as a major Jewish philosopher with the publication of Sefer Yesod Mora Ve-Sod Torah (Treatise on the Foundation of Awe and the Secret of the Torah). One of the first books of philosophy written in Hebrew, the Yesod Mora expanded its reach to regions where Arabic was an unfamiliar tongue. Ibn Ezra’s influence can be detected in Maimonides’ Guide for the Perplexed, Nahmanides’ writings, and even in the Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi’s Tanya. Highlights include: • An explanation of why the Bible and Talmud cannot be understood without the study of grammar, logic, philosophy, and science; • An analysis of when traditional rabbinic interpretations must be accepted, and when we are permitted to draw our own conclusions;• The classification of the Torah’s commandments and a study of the reasons for the commandments (ta’amei ha-mitzvot);• How one can connect to God by achieving deveikut (communion) with the Almighty.This edition of Yesod Mora is based on a version originally published in 1995, with additional notes and critical analysis. Theoriginal Hebrew text has been supplied as well.Editor, interpreter, and translator H. Norman Strickman is Rabbi emeritus of the Marine Park Jewish Center in Brooklyn and is a Professor emeritus of Jewish Studies at Touro College in New York City. He earned his ordination from Rabbi Dr. Joseph B.Soloveitchik and Rabbi Dr. Samuel Belkin of Yeshiva University.