Aviezer Ravitzky
Aristotle's Meteorology and the
Maimonidean Modes of Interpreting
the Account of Creation
Editor's Prefatory Note.
Aviezer Ravitzky 's "Aristotle's Meteorology and the Maimo-
nidean Modes of Interpreting the Account of Creation," pub-
lished in Hebrew more than a decade ago, quickly became a
classic. It shows in an exemplary fashion how a theological-
philosophical agenda shaped the interest of some Maimonidean
scholars in thirteenth-century Provence in science and how
they drew on that science to underpin their radical Maimoni-
deanism, especially their naturalistic interpretation of Creation.
It therefore appeared apposite to publish it in English trans-
lation in Aleph. We are grateful to Prof. Ravitzky for his kind
and helpful cooperation.
When Ravitzky wrote his paper, two works by Samuel Ibn
Tibbon that occupy center stage in this article had not yet been
published and Ravitzky read them in manuscript: the Hebrew
translation of the Arabic text of Aristotle's Meteorology, and the
Commentary on Ecclesiastes. The first appeared in a critical edi-
tion by R. Fontaine in 1995; the second will soon appear in a
© Aleph 8 (2008) pp. 361-400 361