Moses Maimonides
Guide for the perplexed
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Table of contents
THE LIFE OF MOSES MAIMONIDES
THE MOREH NEBUCHIM LITERATURE
ANALYSIS OF THE GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED
PART I.
PART II.
PART III.
INTRODUCTION
PART ONE
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X
CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XVI
CHAPTER XVII
CHAPTER XVIII
CHAPTER XIX
CHAPTER XX
CHAPTER XXI
CHAPTER XXII
CHAPTER XXIII
CHAPTER XXIV
CHAPTER XXV
CHAPTER XXVI
CHAPTER XXVII
CHAPTER XXVIII
CHAPTER XXIX
CHAPTER XXX
CHAPTER XXXI
CHAPTER XXXII
CHAPTER XXXIII
CHAPTER XXXIV
CHAPTER XXXV
CHAPTER XXXVI
CHAPTER XXXVII
CHAPTER XXXVIII
CHAPTER XXXIX
CHAPTER XL
CHAPTER XLI
CHAPTER XLII
CHAPTER XLIII
CHAPTER XLIV
CHAPTER XLV
CHAPTER XLVI
CHAPTER XLVII
CHAPTER XLVIII
CHAPTER XLIX
CHAPTER L
CHAPTER LI
CHAPTER LII
CHAPTER LIII
CHAPTER LIV
CHAPTER LV
CHAPTER LVI
CHAPTER LVII
CHAPTER LVIII
CHAPTER LIX
CHAPTER LX
CHAPTER LXI
CHAPTER LXII
CHAPTER LXIII
CHAPTER LXIV
CHAPTER LXV
CHAPTER LXVI
CHAPTER LXVII
CHAPTER LXVIII
CHAPTER LXIX
CHAPTER LXX
CHAPTER LXXI
CHAPTER LXXII
CHAPTER LXXIII
CHAPTER LXXIV
CHAPTER LXXV
CHAPTER LXXVI
PART TWO
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X
CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XVI
CHAPTER XVII
CHAPTER XVIII
CHAPTER XIX
CHAPTER XX
CHAPTER XXI
CHAPTER XXII
CHAPTER XXIII
CHAPTER XXIV
CHAPTER XXV
CHAPTER XXVI
CHAPTER XXVII
CHAPTER XXVIII
CHAPTER XXIX
CHAPTER XXX
CHAPTER XXXI
CHAPTER XXXII
CHAPTER XXXIII
CHAPTER XXXIV
CHAPTER XXXV
CHAPTER XXXVI
CHAPTER XXXVII
CHAPTER XXXVIII
CHAPTER XXXIX
CHAPTER XL
CHAPTER XLI
CHAPTER XLII
CHAPTER XLIII
CHAPTER XLIV
CHAPTER XLV
CHAPTER XLVI
CHAPTER XLVII
CHAPTER XLVIII
PART THREE
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X
CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XVI
CHAPTER XVII
CHAPTER XVIII
CHAPTER XIX
CHAPTER XX
CHAPTER XXI
CHAPTER XXII
CHAPTER XXIII
CHAPTER XXIV
CHAPTER XXV
CHAPTER XXVI
CHAPTER XXVII
CHAPTER XXVIII
CHAPTER XXIX
CHAPTER XXX
CHAPTER XXXI
CHAPTER XXXII
CHAPTER XXXIII
CHAPTER XXXIV
CHAPTER XXXV
CHAPTER XXXVI
CHAPTER XXXVII
CHAPTER XXXVIII
CHAPTER XXXIX
CHAPTER XL
CHAPTER XLI
CHAPTER XLII
CHAPTER XLIII
CHAPTER XLIV
CHAPTER XLV
CHAPTER XLVI
CHAPTER XLVII
CHAPTER XLVIII
CHAPTER XLIX
CHAPTER L
CHAPTER LI
CHAPTER LII
CHAPTER LIII
CHAPTER LIV
THE LIFE OF MOSES MAIMONIDES
"BEFORE
the sun of Eli had set the son of Samuel had risen." Before the
voice of the prophets had ceased to guide the people, the
Interpreters of the Law, the Doctors of the Talmud, had commenced
their labours, and before the Academies of Sura and of Pumbadita were
closed, centres of Jewish thought and learning were already
flourishing in the far West. The circumstances which led to the
transference of the head-quarters of Jewish learning from the East to
the West in the tenth century are thus narrated in the Sefer
ha-kabbalah of
Rabbi Abraham ben David:"After
the death of Hezekiah, the head of the Academy and Prince of the
Exile, the academies were closed and no new Geonim were appointed.
But long before that time Heaven had willed that there should be a
discontinuance of the pecuniary gifts which used to be sent from
Palestine, North Africa and Europe. Heaven had also decreed that a
ship sailing from Bari should be captured by Ibn Romahis, commander
of the naval forces of Abd-er-rahman al-nasr. Four distinguished
Rabbis were thus made prisoners--Rabbi Ḥushiel, father of Rabbi
Ḥananel, Rabbi Moses, father of Rabbi Ḥanok, Rabbi Shemarjahu,
son of Rabbi Elḥanan, and a fourth whose name has not been
recorded. They were engaged in a mission to collect subsidies in aid
of the Academy in Sura. The captor sold them as slaves; Rabbi Ḥushiel
was carried to Kairuan, R. Shemarjahu was left in Alexandria, and R.
Moses was brought to Cordova. These slaves were ransomed by their
brethren and were soon placed in important positions. When Rabbi
Moses was brought to Cordova, it was supposed that he was uneducated.
In that city there was a synagogue known at that time by the name
of Keneset
ha-midrash,
and Rabbi Nathan, renowned for his great piety, was the head of the
congregation. The members of the community used to hold meetings at
which the Talmud was read and discussed. One day when Rabbi Nathan
was expounding the Talmud and was unable to give a satisfactory
explanation of the passage under discussion, Rabbi Moses promptly
removed the difficulty and at the same time answered several
questions which were submitted to him. Thereupon R. Nathan
thus addressed the assembly:--'I am no longer your leader; that
stranger in sackcloth shall henceforth be my teacher, and you shall
appoint him to be your chief.' The admiral, on hearing of the high
attainments of his prisoner, desired to revoke the sale, but the king
would not permit this retraction, being pleased to learn that his
Jewish subjects were no longer dependent for their religious
instruction on the schools in the East.Henceforth
the schools in the West asserted their independence, and even
surpassed the parent institutions. The Caliphs, mostly opulent, gave
every encouragement to philosophy and poetry; and, being generally
liberal in sentiment, they entertained kindly feelings towards their
Jewish subjects. These were allowed to compete for the acquisition of
wealth and honour on equal terms with their Mohammedan
fellow-citizens. Philosophy and poetry were consequently cultivated
by the Jews with the same zest as by the Arabs. Ibn Gabirol, Ibn
Ḥasdai, Judah ha-levi, Ḥananel, Alfasi, the Ibn Ezras, and others
who flourished in that period were the ornament of their age, and the
pride of the Jews at all times. The same favourable condition was
maintained during the reign of the Omeyades; but when the Moravides
and the Almohades came into power, the horizon darkened once more,
and misfortunes threatened to destroy the fruit of several centuries.
Amidst this gloom there appeared a brilliant luminary which sent
forth rays of light and comfort: this was Moses Maimonides.Moses,
the son of Maimon, was born at Cordova, on the 14th of Nisan, 4895
(March 30, 1135). Although the date of his birth has been recorded
with the utmost accuracy, no trustworthy notice has been preserved
concerning the early period of his life. But his entire career is a
proof that he did not pass his youth in idleness; his education must
have been in harmony with the hope of his parents, that one day he
would, like his father and forefathers, hold the honourable office
of Dayyan or Rabbi,
and distinguish himself in theological learning. It is probable that
the Bible and the Talmud formed the chief subjects of his study; but
he unquestionably made the best use of the opportunities which
Mohammedan Spain, and especially Cordova, afforded him for the
acquisition of general knowledge. It is not mentioned in any of his
writings who were his teachers; his father, as it seems, was his
principal guide and instructor in many branches of knowledge. David
Conforte, in his historical work, Ḳore
ha-dorot,
states that Maimonides was the pupil of two eminent men, namely,
Rabbi Joseph Ibn Migash and Ibn Roshd (Averroes); that by the former
he was instructed in the Talmud, and by the latter in philosophy.
This statement seems to be erroneous, as Maimonides was only a child
at the time when Rabbi Joseph died, and already far advanced in years
when he became acquainted with the writings of Ibn Roshd. The origin
of this mistake, as regards Rabbi Joseph, can easily be traced.
Maimonides in his Mishneh
Tora,
employs, in reference to R. Isaac Alfasi and R. Joseph, the
expression "my teachers" (rabbotai),
and this expression, by which he merely describes his indebtedness to
their writings, has been taken in its literal meaning.Whoever
his teachers may have been, it is evident that he was well prepared
by them for his future mission. At the age of twenty-three he entered
upon his literary career with a treatise on the Jewish Calendar. It
is unknown where this work was composed, whether in Spain or in
Africa. The author merely states that he wrote it at the request of a
friend, whom he, however, leaves unnamed. The subject was generally
considered to be very abstruse, and to involve a thorough knowledge
of mathematics. Maimonides must, therefore, even at this early
period, have been regarded as a profound scholar by those who knew
him. The treatise is of an elementary character.--It was probably
about the same time that he wrote, in Arabic, an explanation of
Logical terms, Millot
higgayon,
which Moses Ibn Tibbon translated into Hebrew.The
earlier period of his life does not seem to have been marked by any
incident worth noticing. It may, however, be easily conceived that
the later period of his life, which was replete with interesting
incidents, engaged the exclusive attention of his biographers. So
much is certain, that his youth was beset with trouble and anxiety;
the peaceful development of science and philosophy was disturbed by
wars raging between Mohammedans and Christians, and also between the
several Mohammedan sects. The Moravides, who had succeeded the
Omeyades, were opposed to liberality and toleration; but they were
surpassed in cruelty and fanaticism by their successors. Cordova was
taken by the Almohades in the year 1148, when Maimonides was about
thirteen years old. The victories of the Almohades, first under the
leadership of the Mahadi Ibn Tamurt, and then under Abd-al-mumen,
were, according to all testimonies, attended by acts of excessive
intolerance. Abd-al-mumen would not suffer in his dominions any other
faith but the one which he himself confessed. Jews and Christians had
the choice between Islam and emigration or a martyr's death.
The Sefer
ha-ḳabbalah contains
the following description of one of the persecutions which then
occurred:"After
the death of R. Joseph ha-levi the study of the Torah was
interrupted, although he left a son and a nephew, both of whom had
under his tuition become profound scholars. 'The righteous man (R.
Joseph) was taken away on account of the approaching evils. After the
death of R. Joseph there came for the Jews a time of oppression and
distress. They quitted their homes, 'Such as were for death, to
death, and such as were for the sword, to the sword; and such as were
for the famine, to the famine, and such as were for the captivity, to
the captivity'; and--it might be added to the words of Jeremiah (xv.
2)--'such as were for apostasy, to apostasy.' All this happened
through the sword of Ibn Tamurt, who, in 4902 (1142), determined to
blot out the name of Israel, and actually left no trace of the Jews
in any part of his empire."Ibn
Verga in his work on Jewish martyrdom, in Shebeṭ
Jehudah,
gives the following account of events then happening:--"In the
year 4902 the armies of Ibn Tamurt made their appearance. A
proclamation was issued that any one who refused to adopt Islam would
be put to death, and his property would be confiscated. Thereupon the
Jews assembled at the gate of the royal palace and implored the king
for mercy. He answered--'It is because I have compassion on you, that
I command you to become Muslemim; for I desire to save you from
eternal punishment.' The Jews replied--'Our salvation depends on our
observance of the Divine Law; you are the master of our bodies and of
our property, but our souls will be judged by the King who gave them
to us, and to whom they will return; whatever be our future fate,
you, O king, will not be held responsible for it.' 'I do not desire
to argue with you,' said the king; 'for I know you will argue
according to your own religion. It is my absolute will that you
either adopt my religion or be put to death. The Jews then proposed
to emigrate, but the king would not allow his subjects to serve
another king. In vain did the Jews implore the nobles to intercede in
their behalf; the king remained inexorable. Thus many congregations
forsook their religion; but within a month the king came to a sudden
death; the son, believing that his father had met with an untimely
end as a punishment for his cruelty to the Jews, assured the
involuntary converts that it would be indifferent to him what
religion they professed. Hence many Jews returned at once to the
religion of their fathers, while others hesitated for some time, from
fear that the king meant to entrap the apparent converts." From
such records it appears that during these calamities some of the Jews
fled to foreign countries, some died as martyrs, and many others
submitted for a time to outward conversion. Which course was followed
by the family of Maimon? Did they sacrifice personal comfort and
safety to their religious conviction, or did they, on the contrary,
for the sake of mere worldly considerations dissemble their faith and
pretend that they completely submitted to the dictates of the tyrant?
An answer to this question presents itself in the following note
which Maimonides has appended to his commentary on the Mishnah: "I
have now finished this work in accordance with my promise, and I
fervently beseech the Almighty to save us from error. If there be one
who shall discover an inaccuracy in this Commentary or shall have a
better explanation to offer, let my attention be directed unto it;
and let me be exonerated by the fact that I have worked with far
greater application than any one who writes for the sake of pay and
profit, and that I have worked under the most trying circumstances.
For Heaven had ordained that we be exiled, and we were therefore
driven about from place to place; I was thus compelled to work at the
Commentary while travelling by land, or crossing the sea. It might
have sufficed to mention that during that time I, in addition, was
engaged in other studies, but I preferred to give the above
explanation in order to encourage those who wish to criticise or
annotate the Commentary, and at the same time to account for the slow
progress of this work. I, Moses, the son of Maimon, commenced it when
I was twenty-three years old, and finished it in Egypt, at the age of
thirty[-three] years, in the year 1479 Sel.(1168)."The Sefer
Ḥaredim of
R. Eleazar Askari of Safed contains the following statement of
Maimonides:--"On Sabbath evening, the 4th of Iyyar, 4925 (1165),
I went on board; on the following Sabbath the waves threatened to
destroy our lives. . . . On the 3rd of Sivan, I arrived safely at
Acco, and
was thus rescued from apostasy.
. . . On Tuesday, the 4th of Marḥeshvan, 4926, I left Acco, arrived
at Jerusalem after a journey beset with difficulties and with
dangers, and prayed on the spot of the great and holy house on the
4th, 5th, and 6th of Marḥeshvan. On Sunday, the 9th of that month,
I left Jerusalem and visited the cave of Machpelah, in Hebron."From
these two statements it may be inferred that in times of persecution
Maimonides and his family did not seek to protect their lives and
property by dissimulation. They submitted to the troubles of exile in
order that they might remain faithful to their religion. Carmoly,
Geiger, Munk, and others are of opinion that the treatise of
Maimonides on involuntary apostasy, as well as the accounts of some
Mohammedan authors, contain strong evidence to show that there was a
time when the family of Maimon publicly professed their belief in
Mohammed. A critical examination of these documents compels us to
reject their evidence as inadmissible.--After a long period of
trouble and anxiety, the family of Maimon arrived at Fostat, in
Egypt, and settled there. David, the brother of Moses Maimonides,
carried on a trade in precious stones, while Moses occupied himself
with his studies and interested himself in the communal affairs of
the Jews.It
appears that for some time Moses was supported by his brother, and
when this brother died, he earned a living by practising as a
physician; but he never sought or derived any benefit from his
services to his community, or from his correspondence or from the
works he wrote for the instruction of his brethren; the satisfaction
of being of service to his fellow-creatures was for him a sufficient
reward.The
first public act in which Maimonides appears to have taken a leading
part was a decree promulgated by the Rabbinical authorities in Cairo
in the year 1167. The decree begins as follows--"In times gone
by, when storms and tempests threatened us, we used to wander about
from place to place but by the mercy of the Almighty we have now been
enabled to find here a resting-place. On our arrival, we noticed to
our great dismay that the learned were disunited; that none of them
turned his attention to the needs of the congregation. We therefore
felt it our duty to undertake the task of guiding the holy flock, of
inquiring into the condition of the community, of "reconciling
the hearts of the fathers to their children," and of correcting
their corrupt ways. The injuries are great, but we may succeed in
effecting a cure, and--in accordance with the words of the
prophet--'I will seek the lost one, and that which has been cast out
I will bring back, and the broken one I will cure' (Micah iv. 6).
When we therefore resolved to take the management of the communal
affairs into our hands, we discovered the existence of a serious evil
in the midst of the community," etc.It
was probably about that time that Maimon died. Letters of condolence
were sent to his son Moses from all sides, both from Mohammedan and
from Christian countries; in some instances the letters were several
months on their way before they reached their destination.The
interest which Maimonides now took in communal affairs did not
prevent him from completing the great and arduous work, the
Commentary on the Mishnah, which he had begun in Spain and continued
during his wanderings in Africa. In this Commentary he proposed to
give the quintessence of the Gemara, to expound the meaning of each
dictum in the Mishnah, and to state which of the several opinions had
received the sanction of the Talmudical authorities. His object in
writing this work was to enable those who are not disposed to study
the Gemara, to understand the Mishnah, and to facilitate the study of
the Gemara for those who are willing to engage in it. The commentator
generally adheres to the explanations given in the Gemara, and it is
only in cases where the halakah,
or practical law, is not affected, that he ventures to dissent. He
acknowledges the benefit he derived from such works of his
predecessors as the Halakot of Alfasi, and the writings of the
Geonim, but afterwards he asserted that errors which were discovered
in his works arose from his implicit reliance on those authorities.
His originality is conspicuous in the Introduction and in the
treatment of general principles, which in some instances precedes the
exposition of an entire section or chapter, in others that of a
single rule. The commentator is generally concise, except when
occasion is afforded to treat of ethical and theological principles,
or of a scientific subject, such as weights and measures, or
mathematical and astronomical problems. Although exhortations to
virtue and warnings against vice are found in all parts of his work,
they are especially abundant in the Commentary on Abot,
which is prefaced by a separate psychological treatise, called The
Eight Chapters.
The dictum "He who speaketh much commits a sin," elicited a
lesson on the economy of speech; the explanation of ‘olam
ha-bain
the treatise Sanhedrin (xi. 1) led him to discuss the principles of
faith, and to lay down the thirteen articles of the Jewish creed. The
Commentary was written in Arabic, and was subsequently translated
into Hebrew and into other languages. The estimation in which the
Commentary was held may be inferred from the following fact: When the
Jews in Italy became acquainted with its method and spirit, through a
Hebrew translation of one of its parts, they sent to Spain in search
of a complete Hebrew version of the Commentary. R. Simḥah, who had
been entrusted with the mission, found no copy extant, but he
succeeded, through the influence of Rabbi Shelomoh ben Aderet, in
causing a Hebrew translation of this important work to be
prepared.--In the Introduction, the author states that he has written
a Commentary on the Babylonian Talmud treatise Ḥullin and on nearly
three entire sections, viz., Moëd, Nashim,
andNezikin.
Of all these Commentaries only the one on Rosh
ha-shanah is
known.In
the year 1572 Maimonides wrote the Iggeret
Teman,
or Petaḥ-tiḳvah ("Letter
to the Jews in Yemen," or "Opening of hope") in
response to a letter addressed to him by Rabbi Jacob al-Fayumi on the
critical condition of the Jews in Yemen. Some of these Jews had been
forced into apostasy others were made to believe that certain
passages in the Bible alluded to the mission of Mohammed; others
again had been misled by an impostor who pretended to be the Messiah.
The character and style of Maimonides reply appear to have been
adapted to the intellectual condition of the Jews in Yemen, for whom
it was written. These probably read the Bible with Midrashic
commentaries, and preferred the easy and attractive Agadah to
the more earnest study of the Halakah.
It is therefore not surprising that the letter contains remarks and
interpretations which cannot be reconciled with the philosophical and
logical method by which all the other works of Maimonides are
distinguished. After a few complimentary words, in which the author
modestly disputes the justice of the praises lavished upon him, he
attempts to prove that the present sufferings of the Jews, together
with the numerous instances of apostasy, were foretold by the
prophets, especially by Daniel, and must not perplex the faithful. It
must be borne in mind, he continues, that the attempts made in past
times to do away with the Jewish religion, had invariably failed; the
same would be the fate of the present attempts; for "religious
persecutions are of but short duration." The arguments which
profess to demonstrate that in certain Biblical passages allusion is
made to Mohammed, are based on interpretations which are totally
opposed to common sense. He urges that the Jews, faithfully adhering
to their religion, should impress their children with the greatness
of the Revelation on Mount Sinai, and of the miracles wrought through
Moses; they also should remain firm in the belief that God will send
the Messiah to deliver their nation, but they must abandon futile
calculations of the Messianic period, and beware of impostors.
Although there be signs which indicate the approach of the promised
deliverance, and the times seem to be the period of the last and most
cruel persecution mentioned in the visions of Daniel (xi. and xii.),
the person in Yemen who pretends to be the Messiah is an impostor,
and if care be not taken, he is sure to do mischief. Similar
impostors in Cordova, France, and Africa, have deceived the multitude
and brought great troubles upon the Jews.--Yet, inconsistently with
this sound advice the author gives a positive date of the Messianic
time, on the basis of an old tradition; the inconsistency is so
obvious that it is impossible to attribute this passage to Maimonides
himself. It is probably spurious, and has, perhaps, been added by the
translator. With the exception of the rhymed introduction, the letter
was written in Arabic, "in order that all should be able to read
and understand it"; for that purpose the author desires that
copies should be made of it, and circulated among the Jews. Rabbi
Naḥum, of the Maghreb, translated the letter into Hebrew.The
success in the first great undertaking of explaining the Mishnah
encouraged Maimonides to propose to himself another task of a still
more ambitious character. In the Commentary on the Mishnah, it was
his object that those who were unable to read the Gemara should be
made acquainted with the results obtained by the Amoraim in the
course of their discussions on the Mishnah. But the Mishnah, with the
Commentary, was not such a code of laws as might easily be consulted
in cases of emergency; only the initiated would be able to find the
section, the chapter, and the paragraph in which the desired
information could be found. The halakah had,
besides, been further developed since the time when the Talmud was
compiled. The changed state of things had suggested new questions;
these were discussed and settled by the Geonim, whose decisions,
being contained in special letters or treatises, were not generally
accessible. Maimonides therefore undertook to compile a complete
code, which would contain, in the language and style of the Mishnah,
and without discussion, the whole of the Written and the Oral Law,
all the precepts recorded in the Talmud, Sifra, Sifre and Tosefta,
and the decisions of the Geonim. According to the plan of the author,
this work was to present a solution of every question touching the
religious, moral, or social duties of the Jews. It was not in any way
his object to discourage the study of the Talmud and the Midrash; he
only sought to diffuse a knowledge of the Law amongst those who,
through incapacity or other circumstances, were precluded from that
study. In order to ensure the completeness of the code, the author
drew up a list of the six hundred and thirteen precepts of the
Pentateuch, divided them into fourteen groups, these again he
subdivided, and thus showed how many positive and negative precepts
were contained in each section of the Mishneh torah. The principles
by which he was guided in this arrangement were laid down in a
separate treatise, called Sefer
ha-miẓvot.
Works of a similar kind, written by his predecessors, as the Halakot
gedolot of
R. Shimon Kahira, and the several Azharot were,
according to Maimonides, full of errors, because their authors had
not adopted any proper method. But an examination of the rules laid
down by Maimonides and of their application leads to the conclusion
that his results were not less arbitrary; as has, in fact, been shown
by the criticisms of Naḥmanides. The Sefer
ha-miẓvot was
written in Arabic, and thrice translated into Hebrew, namely, by
Rabbi Abraham ben Ḥisdai, Rabbi Shelomoh ben Joseph ben Job, and
Rabbi Moses Ibn Tibbon. Maimonides himself desired to translate the
book into Hebrew, but to his disappointment he found no time.This Sefer
ha-miẓvot was
executed as a preparation for his principal work, the Mishneh
Torah,
or Yad
ha-ḥazakah,
which consists of an Introduction and fourteen Books. In the
Introduction the author first describes the chain of tradition from
Moses to the close of the Talmud, and then he explains his method in
compiling the work. He distinguishes between the dicta found in the
Talmud, Sifre, Sifra, or Tosefta, on the one hand, and the dicta of
the Geonim on the other; the former were binding on all Jews, the
latter only as far as their necessity and their utility or the
authority of their propounders was recognized. Having once for all
stated the sources from which he compiled his work, he did not deem
it necessary to name in each case the authority for his opinion or
the particular passage from which he derived his dictum. Any addition
of references to each paragraph he probably considered useless to the
uninformed and superfluous to the learned. At a later time he
discovered his error, he being himself unable to find again the
sources of some of his decisions. Rabbi Joseph Caro, in his
commentary on theMishneh
Torah,
termed Keseph
Mishneh,
remedied this deficiency. The Introduction is followed by the
enumeration of the six hundred and thirteen precepts and a
description of the plan of the work, its division into fourteen
books, and the division of the latter into sections, chapters, and
paragraphs.According
to the author, the Mishneh Torah is a mere compendium of the Talmud;
but he found sufficient opportunities to display his real genius, his
philosophical mind, and his ethical doctrines. For in stating what
the traditional Law enjoined he had to exercise his own judgment, and
to decide whether a certain dictum was meant to be taken literally or
figuratively whether it was the final decision of a majority or the
rejected opinion of a minority; whether it was part of the Oral Law
or a precept founded on the scientific views of a particular author;
and whether it was of universal application or was only intended for
a special period or a special locality. The first Book, Sefer
ha-madda‘,
is the embodiment of his own ethical and theological theories,
although he frequently refers to the Sayings of our Sages, and
employs the phraseology of the Talmud. Similarly, the section on the
Jewish Calendar, Hilkot
ha-’ibur,
may be considered as his original work. In each group of the halakot,
its source, a certain passage of the Pentateuch, is first quoted,
with its traditional interpretation, and then the detailed rules
follow in systematic order. The Mishneh
Torah was
written by the author in pure Hebrew; when subsequently a friend
asked him to translate it into Arabic, he said he would prefer to
have his Arabic writings translated into Hebrew instead of the
reverse. The style is an imitation of the Mishnah he did not choose,
the author says, the philosophical style, because that would be
unintelligible to the common reader; nor did he select the prophetic
style, because that would not harmonize with the subject.Ten
years of hard work by day and by night were spent in the compilation
of this code, which had originally been undertaken for "his own
benefit, to save him in his advanced age the trouble and the
necessity of consulting the Talmud on every occasion."
Maimonides knew very well that his work would meet with the
opposition of those whose ignorance it would expose, also of those
who were incapable of comprehending it, and of those who were
inclined to condemn every deviation from their own preconceived
notions. But he had the satisfaction to learn that it was well
received in most of the congregations of Israel, and that there was a
general desire to possess and study it. This success confirmed him in
his hope that at a later time, when all cause for jealousy would have
disappeared, the Mishneh
Torah would
be received by all Jews as an authoritative code. This hope has not
been realized. The genius, earnestness, and zeal of Maimonides are
generally recognized; but there is no absolute acceptance of his
dicta. The more he insisted on his infallibility, the more did the
Rabbinical authorities examine his words and point out errors
wherever they believed that they could discover any. It was not
always from base motives, as contended by Maimonides and his
followers, that his opinions were criticised and rejected. The
language used by Rabbi Abraham ben David in his notes (hasagot)
on the Mishneh
Torah appears
harsh and disrespectful, if read together with the text of the
criticised passage, but it seems tame and mild if compared with
expressions used now and then by Maimonides about men who happened to
hold opinions differing from his own.Maimonides
received many complimentary letters, congratulating him upon his
success; but likewise letters with criticisms and questions
respecting individual halakot.
In most cases he had no difficulty in defending his position. From
the replies it must, however, be inferred that Maimonides made some
corrections and additions, which were subsequently embodied in his
work. The letters addressed to him on the Mishneh
Torah and
on other subjects were so numerous that he frequently complained of
the time he had to spend in their perusal, and of the annoyance they
caused him; but "he bore all this patiently, as he had learned
in his youth to bear the yoke." He was not surprised that many
misunderstood his words, for even the simple words of the Pentateuch,
"the Lord is one," had met with the same fate. Some
inferred from the fact that he treated fully of ‘Olam
ha-ba,
"the future state of the soul," and neglected to expatiate
on the resurrection of the dead, that he altogether rejected that
principle of faith. They therefore asked Rabbi Samuel ha-levi of
Bagdad to state his opinion; the Rabbi accordingly discussed the
subject; but, according to Maimonides, he attempted to solve the
problem in a very unsatisfactory manner. The latter thereupon
likewise wrote a treatise "On the Resurrection of the Dead,"
in which he protested his adherence to this article of faith. He
repeated the opinion he had stated in the Commentary on the Mishnah
and in the Mishneh
Torah,
but "in more words; the same idea being reiterated in various
forms, as the treatise was only intended for women and for the common
multitude."These
theological studies engrossed his attention to a great extent, but it
did not occupy him exclusively. In a letter addressed to R. Jonathan,
of Lunel, he says: "Although from my birth the Torah was
betrothed to me, and continues to be loved by me as the wife of my
youth, in whose love I find a constant delight, strange women whom I
at first took into my house as her handmaids have become her rivals
and absorb a portion of my time." He devoted himself especially
to the study of medicine, in which he distinguished himself to such a
degree, according to Alkifti, that "the King of the Franks in
Ascalon wanted to appoint him as his physician." Maimonides
declined the honour. Alfadhel, the Vizier of Saladin king of Egypt,
admired the genius of Maimonides, and bestowed upon him many
distinctions. The name of Maimonides was entered on the roll of
physicians, he received a pension, and was introduced to the court of
Saladin. The method adopted in his professional practice he describes
in a letter to his pupil, Ibn Aknin, as follows: "You know how
difficult this profession is for a conscientious and exact person who
only states what he can support by argument or authority." This
method is more fully described in a treatise on hygiene, composed for
Alfadhel, son of Saladin, who was suffering from a severe illness and
had applied to Maimonides for advice. In a letter to Rabbi Samuel Ibn
Tibbon he alludes to the amount of time spent in his medical
practice, and says I reside in Egypt (or Fostat); the king resides in
Cairo, which lies about two Sabbath-day journeys from the first-named
place. My duties to the king are very heavy. I am obliged to visit
him every day, early in the morning; and when he or any of his
children or the inmates of his harem are indisposed, I dare not quit
Cairo, but must stay during the greater part of the day in the
palace. It also frequently happens that one or two of the royal
officers fall sick, and then I have to attend them. As a rule, I go
to Cairo very early in the day, and even if nothing unusual happens I
do not return before the afternoon, when I am almost dying with
hunger; but I find the antechambers filled with Jews and Gentiles,
with nobles and common people, awaiting my return," etc.Notwithstanding
these heavy professional duties of court physician, Maimonides
continued his theological studies. After having compiled a religious
guide--Mishneh
Torah--based
on Revelation and Tradition, he found it necessary to prove that the
principles there set forth were confirmed by philosophy. This task he
accomplished in his Dalalāt al-ḥaïrin,
"The Guide for the Perplexed," of which an analysis will be
given below. It was composed in Arabic, and written in Hebrew
characters. Subsequently it was translated into Hebrew by Rabbi
Samuel Ibn Tibbon, in the lifetime of Maimonides, who was consulted
by the translator on all difficult passages. The congregation in
Lunel, ignorant of Ibn Tibbon's undertaking, or desirous to possess
the most correct translation of the Guide, addressed a very
flattering letter to Maimonides, requesting him to translate the work
into Hebrew. Maimonides replied that he could not do so, as he had
not sufficient leisure for even more pressing work, and that a
translation was being prepared by the ablest and fittest man, Rabbi
Samuel Ibn Tibbon. A second translation was made later on by Jehudah
Alḥarizi. The Guide delighted many, but it also met with much
adverse criticism on account of the peculiar views held by Maimonides
concerning angels, prophecy, and miracles, especially on account of
his assertion that if the Aristotelian proof for the Eternity of the
Universe had satisfied him, he would have found no difficulty in
reconciling the Biblical account of the Creation with that doctrine.
The controversy on the Guide continued long after the death of
Maimonides to divide the community, and it is difficult to say how
far the author's hope to effect a reconciliation between reason and
revelation was realized. His disciple, Joseph Ibn Aknin, to whom the
work was dedicated, and who was expected to derive from it the
greatest benefit, appears to have been disappointed. His inability to
reconcile the two antagonistic elements of faith and
science, he describes allegorically in the form of a letter addressed
to Maimonides, in which the following passage occurs: "Speak,
for I desire that you be justified; if you can, answer me. Some time
ago your beloved daughter, the beautiful and charming Kimah, obtained
grace and favour in my sight, and I betrothed her unto me in
faithfulness, and married her in accordance with the Law, in the
presence of two trustworthy witnesses, viz., our master, Abd-allah
and Ibn Roshd. But she soon became faithless to me; she could not
have found fault with me, yet she left me and departed from my tent.
She does no longer let me behold her pleasant countenance or hear her
melodious voice. You have not rebuked or punished her, and perhaps
you are the cause of this misconduct. Now, 'send the wife back to the
man, for he is'--or might become--'a prophet; he will pray for you
that you may live, and also for her that she may be firm and
steadfast. If, however, you do not send her back, the Lord will
punish you. Therefore seek peace and pursue it; listen to what our
Sages said: 'Blessed be he who restores to the owner his lost
property'; for this blessing applies in a higher degree to him who
restores to a man his virtuous wife, the crown of her husband."
Maimonides replied in the same strain, and reproached his
"son-in-law" that he falsely accused his wife of
faithlessness after he had neglected her; but he restored him his
wife with the advice to be more cautious in future. In another letter
Maimonides exhorts Ibn Aknin to study his works, adding, "apply
yourself to the study of the Law of Moses; do not neglect it, but, on
the contrary, devote to it the best and the most of your time, and if
you tell me that you do so, I am satisfied that you are on the right
way to eternal bliss."Of
the letters written after the completion of the "Guide,"
the one addressed to the wise men of Marseilles (1194) is especially
noteworthy. Maimonides was asked to give his opinion on astrology. He
regretted in his reply that they were not yet in the possession of
his Mishneh
Torah;
they would have found in it the answer to their question. According
to his opinion, man should only believe what he can grasp with his
intellectual faculties, or perceive by his senses, or what he can
accept on trustworthy authority. Beyond this nothing should be
believed. Astrological statements, not being founded on any of these
three sources of knowledge, must be rejected. He had himself studied
astrology, and was convinced that it was no science at all. If some
dicta be found in the Talmud which appear to represent astrology as a
true source of knowledge, these may either be referred to the
rejected opinion of a small minority, or may have an allegorical
meaning, but they are by no means forcible enough to set aside
principles based on logical proof.The
debility of which Maimonides so frequently complained in his
correspondence, gradually increased, and he died, in his seventieth
year, on the 20th Tebeth, 4965 (1204). His death was the cause of
great mourning to all Jews. In Fostat a mourning of three days was
kept; in Jerusalem a fast was appointed; a portion of
the tochaḥah (Lev.
xxvi. or Deut. xxix.) was read, and also the history of the capture
of the Ark by the Philistines (1 Sam. iv.). His remains were brought
to Tiberias. The general regard in which Maimonides was held, both by
his contemporaries and by succeeding generations, has been expressed
in the popular saying: "From Moses to Moses there was none like
Moses."
THE MOREH NEBUCHIM LITERATURE
I. The
Arabic Text.--The editio
princeps,
the only edition of the original text of the Guide (in Arabic, Dĕlil,
or Dalalat al-h.aïrin),
was undertaken and executed by the late S. Munk. Its title is: Le
Guide des Égarés, traité de Théologie et de Philosophie par Moïse
ben Maimon, publié pour la première fois dans l’original Arabe,
et accompagné d’une traduction Française et de notes critiques,
littéraires et explicatives, par S. Munk (Paris,
1850-1866). The plan was published, 1833, in Reflexions
sur le culte des anciens Hèbreux (La
Bible, par S. Cahen, vol. iv.), with a specimen of two chapters of
the Third Part. The text adopted has been selected from the several
MSS. at his disposal with great care and judgment. Two Leyden MSS.
(cod. 18 and 221), various MSS. of the Bibliothèque
Nationale (No.
760, very old; 761 and 758, written by R. Saadia Ibn Danan), and some
MSS. of the Bodleian Library were consulted. In the notes which
accompany the French translation, the various readings of the
different MSS. are fully discussed. At the end of the third volume a
list is added of "Variantes des Manuscrits Arabes et des deux
Versions Hébraïques."The
library of the British Museum possesses two copies of the Arabic
text; the one Or. 5423 is complete, beautifully written, with
explanatory notes in the margin and between the lines. The name of
the copyist is not mentioned, nor the date when it has been written.
The volume has in the beginning an incomplete index to the Scriptural
passages referred to in the
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