The masses or those who dabble in philosophy¹ (AS II 67; Ethical Wills, p. 146), Kaspi explains who these dabblers are: “They are destroyers and rebels; they scoff at the words of the rabbis of blessed memory, treat the practical precepts as of little account, and accept unseemly interpretations of biblical narratives …” Kaspi implies there that they deny the validity of practical laws as expounded by the sages. Consequently, in the present context he is saying that both the masses and the would-be philosophers accept the prevalent opinion that the oral tradition places its priority on the practical precepts, but that whereas the former practice those precepts, the latter scoff at them. Averroës appears to identify the would-be philosophers of contemporary Islam with the Kalamists, who confuse the masses and open the road to heresy. See A. Halkin, “Yedaiah Bedershi’s Apology,” in Medieval and Renaissance Studies, ed. A. Altmann (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967), p. 173, n. 48. think that when Moses handed the commentary of his book to Joshua, (and when that was given) by Joshua to the elders, and by the elders to the prophets, and by the prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly, the most important part (of the commentary) began only | at “Ye shall dwell in booths seven days,”² (AS II 70). and other similar practical commandments. Some think, perhaps, that such (a commentary) was only formulated with regard to these (practical) commandments. Far be this from the truth, for (that part of the commentary) was minor, while the major portion, and the most important, pertained to the speculative commandments of the heart,³ and to the anecdotes that make up the Book of Genesis, and which are, in fact, in explanation of (the speculative commandments).

footnotes: ¹ 1. In the Sefer Ha-Musar ² 2. Lev. 23:42. Kaspi chooses the same commandment as the archetype of the practical precepts in Sefer Ha-Musar ³ 3. On this issue, see his remarks earlier in chap. VIII, above p. 171.

For this reason, the explanations that I have mentioned in regard to these two visions, as well as similar matters derived from speculative philosophy, and subsequently those derived from practical philosophy,⁴ are, in fact, the things that Moses taught as the essential, and primarily intended, subject-matter. This was the case with those that followed him.⁵

footnotes: ⁴ 4. Later, in chap. XIII, below p. 206, Kaspi discusses the nature and significance of practical philosophy. ⁵ 5. He means that the development of the oral tradition continued to recognize the centrality of the commandments of the heart. Cf. below chap. XIX, which is devoted to a discussion of the relative merits of anecdote and law in the Torah.