The Debate on Mesharet Moshe: Epistles of Yedidya Rakh and Michael Balbo concerning Prophecy and Mosaic Prophecy / ספר ״משָרת משה״ בעין הסערה: תכתובת בין ר׳ ידידיה רך לר׳ מיכאל בלבו בסוגיות הנבואה ונבואת משה

Several controversies in Jewish thought took place in Byzantium during the second half of the fifteenth century. One of them involved Yedidya Rakh and Michael Balbo. Their debate took place in two dimensions: the essential – the knowledge of the prophet, and the bibliographical – the status of a thirteenth century book, Mesharet Moshe. The controversy revolved around issues such as the superiority of the sage over the prophet, the essence of the angels' (that is, the separate intellects') cognition, and the quality of Mosaic prophecy. Yedidya represented the uncompromising rationalists while Balbo represented the moderate rationalists. The article supplies the full text of the correspondence based on a Vatican manuscript (Vat. ebr. 105).