Daniel ben Saadiah ha-Bavli

Daniel ben Saadia ha-Bavli (1170-1220) was a 13th-century talmud scholar from Damascus, a student of Samuel ben Ali, and an opponent of Maimonides. He campaigned against Maimonides' works and sent letters to his son Abraham Maimonides questioning his father after his death, and accusing him of heresy for not believing in evil spirits. Abraham published his answers, and refused to excommunicate Daniel, but David ben Samuel, the exilarch, later did so. He critiqued both the halakhic and ideological aspects of Maimonides' work, and wrote a commentary on Ecclesiastes that was a veiled polemic against him, which brought him into conflict with Maimonides' student Joseph ben Judah of Ceuta. Although Daniel corresponded with Abraham from Damascus, he likely had roots in Iraq (Babylon, as his name: ha-Bavli, the Babylonian) and his teacher was the head of the torah academy in Baghdad. His name appears in the Tahkemoni of Judah al-Harizi concerning the Damascene Jewish community, which praises his mind as an "ever-flowing spring...in his wisdom, he smashes cedar trees." Al-Harizi may have removed this after Daniel's excommunication.

Life and Work His Dispute Against Maimonides The dispute between Rabbi Daniel and Maimonides focused on fundamental questions of faith, philosophy, and Jewish law. Rabbi Daniel, like many of his contemporaries, opposed certain views of Maimonides that were considered innovative and contrary to rabbinic tradition. He argued that Maimonides had deviated from tradition and adapted his teachings to Aristotelian philosophy.

His book of objections to Maimonides' Sefer HaMitzvot was written in Arabic, as was the Sefer HaMitzvot itself. The forty-seven objections to Mishneh Torah were written in Hebrew. Rabbi Daniel sent these objections to Rabbi Abraham ben Maimonides, who responded to them at length. The objections to Sefer HaMitzvot and the responses of Rabbi Abraham ben Maimonides were printed under the name Ma'aseh Nissim, while the objections to Mishneh Torah appear in the responsa collection Birkat Avraham.

In the book Milhamot HaShem, Rabbi Abraham ben Maimonides recounts that some years later Rabbi Joseph ibn Aknin sent him a commentary on Ecclesiastes composed by Rabbi Daniel, which contained improper remarks against Maimonides and the Geonim under cover of anonymity. Rabbi Joseph and his associates asked Rabbi Abraham ben Maimonides to place Rabbi Daniel under a ban of excommunication, but he refrained from doing so on the grounds that it is not fitting to excommunicate one's adversary in a dispute, and that doing so could bring about a desecration of God's name. Maimonides' admirers subsequently turned to the Exilarch, Rabbi David of Mosul, who issued a decree of excommunication against him — following which Rabbi Daniel ultimately retracted his position and expressed remorse over his dispute with Maimonides. The reasons for his retraction are not entirely clear, but they may have stemmed from social pressure or from a desire to preserve communal unity.

His Legacy Although he ended his life in compromise, the dispute between Rabbi Daniel and Maimonides had a profound impact on the Torah world. It raised fundamental questions about the relationship between tradition and philosophy, and about the boundaries of Torah interpretation. The dispute stirred deep theoretical discussion on these matters and influenced many generations of Torah scholars.