Albo states that neither Maimonides nor Crescas keeps in view his own fundamental criterion ; namely, the absolute indispensability of a principle without which the trunk of the tree could not subsist ; and on this score he rejects most of their creed.

Crescas, admitting that the existence of a first cause is susceptible of philosophic proof, but only by contingence ( he rejects the Aristotelian assumption that an endless chain of causes is unthinkable ; i. e., the first cause of all that is must be regarded as existent ), holds philosophy to be incompetent to prove God's absolute unity, as does Ghazzali.

Crescas rejects this as inadequate, and posits instead God's love, always intent upon communicating itself and doing good.

If among Jews he exercised for a long time only through Joseph Albo any perceptible influence, though he was studied, for instance, by Don Isaac Abravanel, who controverts especially his Messianic theories, and by Abram Shalom in his Neveh Shalom, Crescas ' work was of prime and fundamental importance through the part it had in the shaping of Baruch Spinoza's system.

In Maimonides ' time, his list of tenets was criticized by Hasdai Crescas and Joseph Albo.

The most rigorous medieval critique of Maimonides is Hasdai Crescas ' Or Adonai.

" On the topic of omniscience and free will, Jacobs writes that in the medieval period, three views were put forth: Maimonides, who wrote that God had foreknowledge and man is free ; Gersonides, who wrote that man is free and consequently God does not have complete knowledge, and Hasdai Crescas, who wrote in Or Adonai that God has complete foreknowledge and consequently God is not really free.

Maimonides ' 13 principles were controversial when first proposed, evoking criticism by Crescas and Joseph Albo.

Accordingly, Hasdai Crescas mentions Ibn Daud as the only Jewish philosopher among the predecessors of Maimonides.

Albo freely criticizes Maimonides ' thirteen principles of belief and Crescas ' six principles.

His most important work, Rosh Amanah (" The Pinnacle of Faith "), defends Maimonides ' thirteen articles of belief against attacks of Hasdai Crescas and Yosef Albo.

Accordingly, Hasdai Crescas mentions Ibn Daud as the only Jewish philosopher among the predecessors of Maimonides ( Or Adonai, ch.

In contradistinction to Maimonides ' thirteen and Crescas ' six, Albo limited the fundamental Jewish principles of faith to three:

Albo freely criticizes Maimonides ' thirteen principles of belief and Crescas ' six principles.

Crescas makes no concealment of his purpose to vindicate classical Jewish thinking against the rationalism of Maimonides and Gersonides.

Crescas deplores the fact that Maimonides, whose scholarship and honesty he otherwise admires, seemed to make Greek philosophy the basis for Jewish doctrine.

While Crescas admits this, he differs from Maimonides in that he will not admit the refusal of the prophetic gift when these conditions are fulfilled.

An opponent of Maimonides on philosophical grounds, Crescas was also dissatisfied with the method of Maimonides law code, the Mishneh Torah ,.

This work, devoted to the championship of the Maimonidean thirteen articles of belief against the attacks of Crescas and Albo, ends with the statement that Maimonides compiled these articles merely in accordance with the fashion of other nations, which set up axioms or fundamental principles for their science.

Religious tradition is so preponderatingly in favor of the assumption that the world and matter are created, and Gersonides ' counter-reasoning is so inconclusive, that Crescas regards the denial of creation as heterodox.

At the close of the work are added several eulogies written by Abba Mari on Ben Adret ( who died in 1310 ), and on Don Vidal, Solomon of Perpignan, and Don Bonet Crescas of Lunel.

Others, like Crescas and David ben Samuel Estella, spoke of seven fundamental articles, laying stress on free-will.

Hasdai Crescas, of Barcelona, was a leading rationalist on issues of natural law and free-will.

The Sinagoga Major is on the left. Hasdai Crescas came from a family of scholars ; he was a disciple of the Talmudist and philosopher Nissim ben Reuben, known as The RaN.

Crescas ' object in writing what is virtually an apologetic treatise on Judaism was to present the reasons which held the Jews fast to their ancestral faith.

Crescas does not denounce heretics, but rather exposes the weakness of the ground on which those views he considers to be heterodox rest.

The connection between Spinoza's views on creation and free will, on love of God and of others, and those of Crescas has been established by Joël in his " Zur Genesis der Lehre Spinoza's " ( Breslau, 1871 ).

In the view of Crescas, this point of view often led to mistaken conclusions, and threatened to blur the distinctiveness of the Jewish faith.

Among well known ( generally non-kabbalist or anti-kabbalist ) Rabbis who rejected the idea of reincarnation are Saadia Gaon, David Kimhi, Hasdai Crescas, Yedayah Bedershi ( early 14th century ), Joseph Albo, Abraham ibn Daud, the Rosh and Leon de Modena.

Abba Mari, through Ben Adret's aid, obtained allies eager to take up his cause, among whom were Don Bonafoux Vidal of Barcelona and his brother, Don Crescas Vidal, then in Perpignan.

File: Map of Jericho in 14c Farhi Bible by Elisha ben Avraham Crescas. jpg | Illustration of Jericho in a Farhi Bible ( 14th century )

A partial translation of Crescas was produced by Harry Austryn Wolfson of Harvard University, in 1929.

In his old age John was blinded by cataracts, but recovered his eyesight by the operation of couching conducted by his physician Abiathar Crescas, a Jew.

Isaac ben Sheshet Perfet, of Barcelona, studied under Hasdai Crescas and Rabbi Nissim ben Reuben Gerondi.

Hasdai Crescas was a student of Nissim ben Reuben Gerondi, who in turn was a student of Reuben ben Nissim Gerondi.

Crescas was not a Rabbi, yet he was active as a teacher.

Joseph Albo, of Monreal, was a student of Hasdai Crescas.

Crescas (, ) is a Judaeo-Catalan family name, prominent in the former Crown of Aragon.

* Hasdai Crescas ( c. 1340, Barcelona – 1410 / 1411 ), a Catalan Jewish philosopher, halakhist

Crescas was a very prominent Jewish figure in Aragon.

His closest disciples were the Rivash ( Isaac ben Sheshet ) and Hasdai Crescas.

His teacher was Hasdai Crescas, author of Or Adonai.