The Philosophical Underpinnings of Rabbi Israel Moshe Hazan’s Concept of Arabic Philology

Until very recently modern Jewish writers in the Mashriq and Maghrib did not receive equal attention in western Jewish historiography. Affected by an alleged overall “decline” in the Arabic world the work of those Jewish authors coming from these regions was also considered to be inferior. Furthermore, western nationalism drove a wedge between Arab and Jewish intellectuals trying to reorient the Jewish intellectuals from the newly emerged Arab nationalism to Zionism. However, there is ample evidence to the contrary regarding both claims. Israel Moshe Hazan who was born in Smyrna, grew up in Palestine and lived in Italy and Alexandria knew both the western and the eastern Enlightenments. In his She’erit Nahelah he displays a highly independent ability to compare both the Eastern Arab Nahdah and the Eastern Hebrew Haskalah with the Western Haskalah and Enlightenment. It is striking that in his attempt to differentiate between an western and eastern rationalism the philological argument holds an important position. Hazan not only rejects any western claim that the Arabic language is supposedly a blunt instrument for rational analysis but he also criticizes the way how western rational discourse is conducted. This lecture will focus on Hazan’s arguments on the advantages of the Arabic figurative speech and it will show how his reasoning is firmly grounded in medieval Arabic and Hebrew philosophy. Thus, a contribution to the reconstruction of Hazan’s Sephardic heritage will be pursued.