(1135-1204) philosopher, physician, nonfiction writer
Moses Maimonides, known in Hebrew literature by the acronym RaMBaM, was born in Cordoba, Spain, to Rabbi Maimon ben Joseph, a judge of the rabbinical court, and a mother (name unknown) who died at his birth. He became a Talmudic scholar and philosopher, studying and writing books as he wandered throughout Andalusia.
In 1160, Maimonides and his family fled Spain to evade the Muslim Almohades, who were invading Spain and persecuting Jewish communities. They traveled to several different countries, going first to Morocco, where they still had to hide their Jewish origins. After an abortive attempt to move to Israel, they settled in Egypt, first in Alexandria and then in Fustat, close to Cairo, where Maimonides started studying medicine. He was eventually able to gain a position as chief physician at the court of Saladin. He also became a respected citizen and served as the leader of the Cairo Jewish community.
Many fantastical myths and legends have grown up around Maimonides over the years, which is ironic since the philosopher himself was very skeptical of all superstition, magic, and myth. He was, philosophically speaking, a religious rationalist. He did not take seriously the ideas, common in his day, of witchcraft, astrology, mysticism and speaking in tongues. Nonetheless, the stories surrounding him include accounts of his miraculous birth and death, tales of mysterious circumstances surrounding his travels and burial, and tales of his raising people from the dead.
Despite his obligations as chief physician and leader of the Cairo Jewish community, Maimonides continued with his scholarship and produced a large body of written work on the Talmud, Jewish law, medicine, and philosophy. He was the first person ever to codify Jewish law systematically, the product of which is the Mishnah Torah (1180). In one section of this work, Maimonides defines repentance: “Repentance involves forsaking sins and removing such thoughts from one’s way of thinking and resolving firmly never to do it again….” Another of his works, The Guide to the Perplexed, is regarded as one of the great philosophical works on Judaism. Maimonides based his interpretation of Jewish law on aristotle’s philosophy, and his work influenced such later writers as Benedict Spinoza and Saint Thomas Aquinas.
In his time, Maimonides was a hero throughout the Jewish world. Upon his death, Egyptian Jews mourned for three days. The credo of Judaism that he formulated, expressed in 13 articles of faith, was reworked into the Yigdal prayer, which is included in most Jewish prayer books. Today Maimonides is regarded as one of the foremost Jewish philosophers of all time, and his work is still widely read and respected.
English Versions of Works by Maimonides
Codex Maimuni: Moses Maimonides’ Code of Law: The Illuminated Pages of the Kaufmann Mishneh Torah. Budapest: Corniva, 1984.
The Guide to the Perplexed, Vols. One and Two. Translated by Shlomo Pines. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974. Rambam, Readings in the Philosophy of Moses Maimonides. Translated by Lenn E. Goodman. Los Angeles: Gee Tee Bee, 1985.
Works about Maimonides
Davidson, Herbert A. Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Robinson, Ira and Lawrence Kaplan. The Thought of Moses Maimonides: Philosophical and Legal Studies. (Studies in the History of Philosophy, Vol. 17). Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 1991.
Rosner, Fred and Samuel S. Kottek, editors. Moses Maimonides: Physician, Scientist, and Philosopher. Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 1993.
Twersky, Isadore. Introduction to the Code of Maimonides (Mishneh Torah). New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1982.
