Elim (1629, published by
Menasseh ben Israel,
Amsterdam) is written in
Hebrew, in response to 12 general and 70 specific religious and scientific questions sent to Delmedigo by a
Karaite Jew, Zerach ben Natan from Troki (Lithuania). The format of the book is taken from the number of fountains and palm trees at Elim in the
Sinai Peninsula, as given in
Numbers, xxxiii, 9: since there are 12 fountains and 70 palm trees at Elim, Delmedigo divided his book into twelve major problems and seventy minor problems. The book, however, was heavily censored, so only four of the original twelve major problems appeared in the published work. The subjects discussed include astronomy, physics, mathematics, medicine, and music theory. In the area of music, Delmedigo discusses the physics of music including string
resonance,
intervals and their proportions,
consonance and dissonance. Delmedigo argued that the Jews did not take part in the Scientific Revolution because of Ashkenazi exclusive intellectual interest in the Talmud, whereas the Sepharadim and the Karaites were more interested in natural philosophy and philosophy in general. He called the Jews to reclaim their prominence in philosophy and to incorporate into the non-Jewish surrounding via the exploration of natural sciences. Some parts of the book were as follows: • ''Ma'ayan Chatum'' (Closed or Sealed Fountain - Heb. מעין חתום) is the second part of Sefer Elim, containing the 70 questions and answers. • ''Ma'ayan Ganim'' (Fountain of the Gardens - Heb. מעין גנים) is a continuation of Sefer Elim, consisting of the following short treatises: on trigonometry, on the first two books of the
Almagest, on astronomy, on astronomical instruments, on
Kabbalah (mainly the
Ari) and the supernatural, on astrology, on algebra, on chemistry, on the aphorisms of
Hippocrates, on the opinion of the ancients concerning the substance of the heavens, on the astronomy of the ancients, who considered the motion of the higher spheres due to spirits (Delmedigo shows that their motion is similar to that of the earth), on the principles of religion, and mathematical paradoxes. •
Chukkot Shamayim is a part of Mayan Ganim dealing with the first two books of the
Almagest. •
Gevurot Hashem is a treatise on astronomy. He also wrote a defense of the Kabbalah called
Matzreif LaChachma (Heb. מצרף לחכמה) against the attack upon it by his great grandfather
Eliyahu Delmedigo. In the preface of the book the publisher writes that the author himself admitted once that when he was young (18 years old when he went to study in the university of Padua) he used to mock the Kabbalah and fiercely opposed those who studied it, but when he turned twenty seven he had a change of heart when he met two great philosophers, R' Yaakov ibn Nachmias and R' Shlomo Aravi, who were also firm adherents of the Kabbalah and they showed him how closely it resembles the philosophy of Plato, since then there was a renewed spirit within him. ==Descendants==