Conduct of Life, volume 3

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· Le Cercle Hilliger
Ebook
153
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

The major work of Rabbi Moses Almosnino (1515-1580), “Conduct of Life,” remains to this day an essential reference in classical Judeo-Spanish literature, now finally available in English in its first translation. First published in Ladino in 1564 as, Sefer Hanhagat hahayim and in 1729 as “Regimiento de la vida”, this three-volume edition is part of the prestigious collection Veritas è terra orietur. The work aims to disseminate the timeless teachings of ethics, in the words of the author: “In all that has been said, my intention is only to make you understand how the one who follows the path of virtue and customs of practising good and pure knowledge since childhood, lives a happy and fulfilled life (Volume 1, chapter 2)” The third volume deals with justice (Volume 3, chapters 1-3) and friendship (chapters 4-8 and 13), love (chapter 9), the five intellectual virtues: understanding, science, wisdom, prudence, and art (chapter 10-11), and the learning of sciences as a path to virtue (chapter 12). This work presents itself as a pedagogical endeavor, intended to provide advice for leading a virtuous life. “Conduct of Life” draws heavily from the Nicomachean Ethics but transcends this source by situating itself at the universal intersection of several traditions: Greco-Arabic philosophy, Judeo-Christian scholasticism, classical Sephardic Judaism, and medieval Jewish thought. Thus, this work contributes to peace and intercultural understanding among peoples.

About the author

R. Moses Ben Barukh Almosnino (c. 1515-1580) was a major figure in Classical Judaism. He settled in the Ottoman Empire, and possessed extensive knowledge of both Jewish and secular subjects and was known for his Responsa and exegeses of Jewish texts. He also took an interest in various scientific fields, translating and commenting on works by Aristotle and other scholars. R. Moses Almosnino wrote on topics such as ethics, including commentaries on the Nicomachean Ethics and Pirkei Avot. He also authored “Extremos y grandezas de Constantinopla,” a historical work in Judeo-Spanish. His original work “Regimiento de vidas,” (Conduct of Life) a treatise on ethics, was published during his lifetime in 1564 and remains a reference in classical Judeo-Spanish literature.

Walter Hilliger is a man of letters, essayist, translator, and editor of the collection “Veritas è terra orietur”. He dedicates himself to paleography, restoration, digitization, transcription, annotation, and publication of facsimiles and unpublished manuscripts of major texts of Iberian Judaism, following the expulsions of 1492 and 1497. He translates them from Latin, Castilian, and Judeo-Spanish into English, contemporary Spanish, and French, introduces and annotates them, and invites specialists to write the introductions of the translated works. His efforts have helped preserve these works from oblivion by making them accessible to a wider audience.

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