  A very important feature of Ibn Ezra’s philosophy is its focus upon the salvation of the individual. His expressions mark a major shift in religious attitude. Traditional rabbinic Judaism, especially as reflected in the liturgy, had been concerned above all with the collective redemption of the Jewish people. Sophisticated circles in Judaeo-Arabic culture of al-Andalus had, for at least a century before Ibn Ezra, focused their soteriology instead on the ultimate felicity of the individual. It is very probable that in this issue, as in so many others, Ibn Ezra’s role was that of the transmitter. The crisp formulations scattered throughout his biblical commentaries and topical booklets were far more accessible to the Jews of Christian Europe than the writings of other Jewish Andalusians, and they were pivotal in the spread of this key idea.