“FROM MOSES TO MOSES” 169
Baghdad, with ten functioning schools.^57 By the twelfth century, how-
ever, the renowned Jewish academic centers of Iraq, the yeshivot, had
declined, and the incontestable po litical and spiritual leadership of the
community had moved away from Mesopotamia. In par ticular, the per-
sonality of Maimonides commanded such respect that Egypt came to
overshadow the more ancient center of Iraq.
The historical situation did not allow for a quiet shift of power. The
Gaon Samuel ben Eli was also a strong personality, who regarded both
Baghdad and himself as natural leaders for all Jewish communities.^58
Maimonides was keenly aware of the threat he represented to his oppo-
nent’s authority, an awareness refl ected in his admonitions to his student
Joseph:
How can you, my child, reproach this conceit in someone who was
brought up from tender age to believe that no one in this generation
is equal to him; whom old age, and high standing, and ancestry,
and the absence of discerning people in that region, and his need to
install in peoples’ mind that accursed brew, namely the belief that
they all [should] look up to him, to receive his obiter dicta issuing
from the Yeshiva, or [to receive] an honorifi c title, and such ravings
which became a second nature to them; how can my child expect
him to reach the level of understanding that will make him recog-
nize his shortcomings, and to undo his own honor and that of his
ancestors?^59The close ties between Jewish communities, from Spain to the Yemen,
contributed to the fact that the clash between the two leaders soon be-
came a cause celèbre. The strife was not an openly po litical one; as Mai-
monides’ authority became more fi rmly established and widespread, and
as the Gaon continually tried to reassert his own authority, the discus-
sion evolved around either legal matters or issues of dogma. Prime among
the latter was the question of the resurrection of the dead.
It was the Gaon who opened the literary debate. For some time prior
to his decision to compose a treatise, the debate had been going on in
other contexts and taking various forms. During this fi rst stage, the con-
troversy retained an epistolary character in the strict sense of the word.
The Jewish community in the Yemen (or, to be exact, several Yemenite
(^57) Benjamin of Tudela, Itinerary, ed. and trans. A. Asher (New York, 1840– 42), 54– 56
(text), 93– 105 (trans.).
(^58) On the Gaon and on the rivalry between the two centers, see S. Assaf, “Letters of R.
Samuel b. Eli and his Contemporaries,” Tarbiz 1 (1930): 102– 30; 2 (1931), 43– 84; 3
(1932), 15– 80 [Hebrew]; see also I. Yuval, “Moses Redivivus: Maimonides as the Messi-
ah’s Helper,” Zion 72 (2007): 184.
(^59) Epistles, 294.