Скачать или смотреть The Radbaz – the great halakhic authority who stood firm when the principles of faith were shaken

In the midst of the spiritual crisis that followed the expulsion from Spain, when Sefer Ha-Ikkarim attempted to define the core of Jewish belief through only three fundamental principles, the Radbaz drew a bold and opposing line: there is no “primary” and “secondary” – the entire Torah is one indivisible essential whole.

As the leading halakhic authority of his generation and a witness to the spiritual collapse of Spanish Jewry, he warned against breaking the Torah into hierarchies that could lead to belittling parts of it. Confronting Albo’s attempt at simplification and philosophical systematization, the Radbaz demanded complete loyalty to every letter and every commandment – specifically as a response to the crisis.

The story of the Radbaz reveals how spiritual strength is born from wholeness, and how an uncompromising stance of total commitment became a stabilizing anchor of faith in a generation shaken by upheaval.