CARA, JOSEPH, son of the celebrated Hagadist Simeon Cara, flourished in the north of France towards the end of the eleventh century, and was a junior contemporary of the immortal Rashi, whose commentary on the Pentateuch he completed. Although the Germano-French school in which he was brought up devoted at that time all its intel lectual powers to the study of the Talmud, and ex plained the Bible according to the Hagada, Cam, stimulated by the noble example of his uncle Mena chem B. Chelbo [Menachem], abandoned the alle gorical mode of interpretation (nil), of which his own father was so great a defender, and consecrated his great talents to the simple and grammatical ex position of the word of God (t3i,M), which he pro secuted with unabated zeal and distinguished suc cess. Having no exegetical helps, he had to frame laws of grammar and interpretation of his own, in accordance with which he unfolded the meaning of every section in a most lucid manner and in logi cal sequence, he even applied to the text rules of higher and lower criticism as they are now termed, and obtained results contrary to the generally received opinions, which he maintained in defiance of tradition. Let a few specimens suffice. The statement in I Sam. ix. 9, that, He who is now called (tA+2)) a Prophet was beforetime (i.e., the time of Samuel) called (111) a Seer,' has occa sioned great difficulty to the Jews, who hold fast to the traditional opinion that Samuel wrote this book, and made them resort to various expedients in order to explain it away (comp. Kimchi in loco) Cara most plainly remarks upon it :—` We have here an evidence that this book was not written at the time of Samuel, as in his day a prophet was called MN, ; it was in a later day, when he was no longer called by this name, but was termed that his book was written. Moreover, the expres sion Mil does not occur in any other portion of the Bible. Our ancient sages, however, maintain that Samuel did write the book which is called by his name. May He who canseth the light to shine
upon the world make darkness light, and the crooked straight.' The traditional explanation of Gen. xxxiv. 25, making it to describe the acute pain and fever which seized all the Shechemites on the third day after their circumcision, has perplexed some interpreters, so much so that Abrabanel felt himself constrained to explain it, `and it came to pass on the third day (i.e., after the violation of Dinah), when they were sore,' etc. Cara, with more justice remarks, that it was the third day when this operation was completed upon all the males, when they were sore, inrni thin i5vi inn+ H= NZ C1'531 1N1 tr1N171.
Cam's commentaries extend nearly over the whole O. T. ; and it is greatly to be regretted that fragments only have been printed of most of them. 1. His rilirm Clin glosses upon Rashi's commen tary on the Pentateuch have mostly been published by Geiger under the title n4nip5 in his +pm 1:1'1=, Breslau, 1847 ; and Parshaudatha, Leipzig, 1855. 2. Fragments of his commentary on the Pro phets, ma, are given by De Rossi in his Varia Lectiones, Parma, 1785, on I Sam. vi. 19 (vol. ii. p. 141) ; Ezek. xlvii. 13 (vol. iii. p. ; Zech. xii. io (ibid., p. 217); by Leopold Dukes, Eslingen, 1846 ; VOMID '12L.M, by Geiger, Breslau, 1847. 3. Fragments of the Commentaries on Ruth, and have been published by Dr. Adolph Jellinek, Leipzig, 1855. The commentary on Lamentations has been printed in Naples, 1487 ; and reprinted in the collection, n+nnil 4-121, pp. 16-23, Metz, 1849. 4. The commentary on yob is printed in Frankel's Monat schrift Geschichte and Wissenschaft des Juden thums, 1856-58. 5. His commentary on Hosea has just been published in Breslau, 1861.—C. D. G.