Kabbalah, Philosophy, and Power in the 14th and 15th Centuries Iberian Peninsula

In the two centuries leading up to the Expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula, Jewish communities continuously grappled with internal discord and shifting relationships with Christian rulers and Muslim neighbours.

Internally, two significant intellectual divisions took shape: one targeted the nature of knowledge, setting philosophers against kabbalists; the other revolved around the interpretation of Jewish law, split between advocates of symbolic exegesis and proponents of literalism.

Additionally, a parallel rift rooted in demographic factors between Jews steeped in Islamic traditions—emphasizing philosophical speculation and esoteric imagery—and those from central European regions—primarily invested in Talmudic studies and pietistic spirituality—increasingly overlapped those intellectual divides.

Externally, these same communities were wrestling with the rise of Christian dominance and the waning of Islamic culture. All these tensions are embodied by the Banū Waqār family.

Andalusian in origin, they lived in various cities, served the crown, and authored works in different languages on varied subjects. They reached their literary peak with Joseph b. Abraham’s massive yet little-explored “Conciliatory Treatise between Philosophy and Tradition”. This Judæo-Arabic work aimed both to address the pressing intellectual challenges and to mend the communal fabric.

KaPP will unfold in two phases: first, a historical exploration of the Banū Waqār family, examining their contributions to the landscapes they inhabited; second, an analysis of the philosophical depth and political ramifications of Joseph’s magnum opus.

Through this bifocal lens, KaPP seeks to redefine our understanding of the interplay between these conflicts, illuminating the critical roles that philosophers, kabbalists, and scholars with divergent interpretations of Jewish law played as social forces, thereby rendering age-old debates about the intricate mosaic of medieval Jewish life in new, sharper contours.