Chovos HaLevavos, Duties of the Heart, the 11th century work by Bahya ibn Paquda, was one of the first mussar books I learned in my late teens/early twenties. Parts of it made sense to me, and much of it felt too far off from where I was at that stage of my life.
Recently a friend suggested I read Interiority and Law: Bayha ibn Paquda and the Concept of Inner Commandments, a critical re-reading of Chovos HaLevavos. For most of the time since it was written 900 years ago in what was then Muslim Spain, it has been read as a conventional mussar sefer, a book of moral admonition and idealized spiritual practice. In Michaelis’ very compelling reading, ibn Paquda has developed a much more radical approach to Torah practice.
The basic argument he believes ibn Paquda is making is as follows. There are two kinds of commandments: the 613 physical commandments, and those that are internal (in our heart/mind), which are infinite in number, and not listed anywhere. The key idea here is that the internal commandments are not only as binding as the external commandments, which is already a tremendous novelty, but that they are in actuality of greater significance than the physical commandments – a quite astounding claim. These are the “duties” that are referred to in the title. Importantly, these internal commandments are not listed anywhere. So how is one to know what the internal commandments are, especially given how important they are? They are, he says, for people of a discerning heart and mind to uncover and discover for themselves, and they can use the ten principles in his book to help. No one can tell you what your internal life should look like, only that your responsibility is to search for and discover it. And once discovered, they become obligatory.
Michaelis substantiates this novel, even radical reading from many angles, and in a very compelling manner. First, he reads ibn Paquda in the original Judeo-Arabic, which most readers since the 11th century did not. They, rather, read the ibn Tibbon translation. By reading it in the original, he shows where ibn Tibbon’s translation was off in quite significant ways, with a more accurate translation leading to a very different understanding of ibn Paquda’s ideas. But he takes several more steps that further substantiate this new reading. He compares ibn Paquda’s ideas to those of contemporary Muslim thinkers, drawing out parallels, as well as significant points of difference. Finally, beyond a close reading of the original language and intellectual milieu, he is a very close reader of the text as a whole, taking ibn Paquda’s claims seriously, even literally, and on their own terms.
There is much more in the book than what I’ve summarized here that fleshes out ibn Paquda’s ideas, showing their breadth and consistency. While ibn Paquda’s approach to the obligatory nature of commandments was not widely adopted, it is compelling, and certainly provocative, if somewhat anxiety provoking for the unending expectations set before each Jew.
Michaelis is a clear writer, and there is very little jargon. As my friend pointed out, the only thing missing is the larger Torah philosophical context in which ibn Paquda was writing, and presumably pushing back against.
Just Because I Liked It:
- No, I still don’t use Instagram, but I was sent this wonderful piece about the importance of what we pay attention to.
- People rave about Dan Senor’s podcast, Call Me Back. I listened for the first time this week, for his interview with Yossi Klein HaLevi. It was excellent. Moral, clear, and very thoughtful.