[1] ḥeleḳ ha-rishon. ḥeleḳ ha-hilkhati ha-maʻaśi. ḥeleḳ ha-sheni. heleḳ ha-agadah ha-musari maʻaśi --.

Orot ha-Torah : 13 peraḳim ʻal ʻerekh ha-Torah, limudah ṿe-hadrakhatah -- Orot ha-teshuvah : 17 peraḳim ʻal ʻerekh ha-teshuvah ṿe-hadrakhatah be-ḥaye ha-peraṭ uve-ḥaye ha-kelal.

1. Torah : issues of ethics. -- 2. God : issues of Theology. -- 3. Israel : issues of public policy.

This article explores the ascetic tendencies of Naḥmanides as reflected in his oeuvre as a whole, including his halakhic, kabbalistic, exegetical, and philosophical output. A close examination of Naḥmanides’s kabbalistic commentary to a talmudic sugiya concerning the differences between oaths and vows uncovers the austere and ascetic ethos in his teaching and its central place in his religious world. This perspective is linked to the nature of human beings and the human soul, the relationship between body and psyche, the meaning (...) of life and the overcoming of death, and the status of the Torah and the connection between observance of the commandments and the voluntary hasidic ethos. (shrink)