מדרשת 'תורת ה' תמימה' לפירוש התורה: אבני דרך ביצירתו של הרמב"ן

This article discusses one of the most important sermons of Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Nahmanides) – his ‘Torat Ha-Shem Temimah’, concentrating specifically on the relation between this sermon and Nahmanides’ Torah commentary. Analysis of these two compositions shows both close similarity in content and style and many changes and significant differences, which were probably made by the author himself. We argue that the sermon predates the publication of the Torah commentary by about thirty years. Thus it reflects an early stage of Nahmanides’ intellectual and Kabbalistic development. Toward the end of his life, when he composed the commentary, Nahmanides copied many of the passages from the old sermon into it, while adjusting and updating it according to his later exegetic and Kabbalistic positions. These passages in the Torah commentary should be regarded as a distinct stratum, which represents a unique religious trend. The general conclusion of the article is that ‘Torat Ha-Shem Temimah’ should be considered to a large extent as the first edition of a central stratum within Nahmanides’ Torah commentary, one which also provides important evidence of Nahmanides’ dramatic spiritual and intellectual development during the second half of his life.