The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Aaron ben Elijah

AARON BEN ELIJAH, renowned Karaite theologian: b. Cairo, Egypt, 1300; d. Constantinople 1369. To distinguish him from his father, Aaron ben Joseph, also a famous scholar, he was often called “Aaron the Younger.” By many he is considered the most logical reasoner of the Karaite school and in the profundity of his learning the equal of Maimonides. In accordance with the doctrines of the Mutazilites, which influenced him early in his career, he emphasized the reason as a medium for salvation and enunciated a materialistic theory of the universe, though of divine origin. His first work was ‘Ez ha-Hayyim’ (‘The Tree of Life’, 1346), which was followed by ‘Gan Eden’ (‘The Garden of Eden’, a Karaite code, 1354); ‘Keter Torah’ (‘The Crown of the Law’, a commentary on the Pentateuch, 1362). Most of his life he lived in Nicomedia, in Asia Minor, but later in life took up his residence in Constantinople.