Maimonidean Controversy
...heir absolute importance in a Jewish society. “[Rambam’s] clear methodical and analytical mind and his remarkable ability to arrange the material systematically is already evident in this early work.”(Merkos p20) But the Interpretation of the Mishna is a lesser work in comparison to his next undertaking, the completely codify all of Jewish Law. In 1167, two years following the completion of the Interpretation of the Mishna, the Rambam began what would become the Sefer Hamitvos and the Mishna Torah. These two works changed the study of Torah and Halacha for all time. In the first work, the Rambam goes through Torah and says which commandments are considered part of the 613 Mitzvos and which are not based of the criteria he sets for them. This book has been seen as the most complete and comprehensive listing of Mitzvos to be put on paper. The Rambam divided the Sefer in to two sections, the first being the criteria for an item appearing as a Mitzvah and the second section is the listing of the Mitzvos themselves. In this way the Rambam was able to make his Halachic decisions in the Mishna Torah more clear as to if a obligation is a Rabbinic or of Biblical decree. The Rambam wrote in a way that everything had to be part of a greater principle and therefore once it as written it could only be questioned if you found something that challenged the principle. Therefore other versions of the Sefer Hamitzvos have been published since but every one of them bases themselves on the Rambam and must explain any difference they have with the Rambam. The second Sefer the Rambam completed at this time is the sefer that has made his name and his Halachic opinion common place in every Yeshiva in the world today. This sefer, the Mishna Torah, is the first real pure Halacha sefer of its kinds. The Rambam systematically goes through all areas of Halacha and gives his Pasak Din based on how he understood the Gemarahs that deal with the issue. The Rambam took approximately years to complete this work and during this time the Rambam checked and rechecked to assure that no two dinim would ever contradict. And today much is made of the manner in which some Halachos seems to contradict each other and from that many infer different Halachos based on the comparisons. The Mishna Torah is structure in 14 books each discussing a different area of Halacha. Many commentaries have written on the Rambam’s opinions either telling us the sources for his opinion or stating disagreements. The most notable person of descent against the Rambam was a contemporary of his, the Raavad. Later on when I speak directly of the controversy I will address the Raavad once again. The third aspect of Judaism that the Rambam under takes is the philosophical aspect of Jewish belief. Although people consider the Rambam’s first philosophy work to be either the introduction to the tenth chapter of Sanhedrin where he speaks about belief in G-d or the Shemona Perekim where he speaks about a Jews ethical obligation, his final work, the Moreh Nevuchim or the Guide to the Perplexed, was the philosophical writing that got the most notice. In the Moreh, he deals comprehensively with both Jewish doctrine and practice from a philosophical point of view. The topics discussed are those that have baffled man for all time ranging from freewill and the proper observance of Torah to the question of why do bad things happen to good people. His discussions of these topics were so revolutionary for their time more because of the unique way they are discussed. Like everything else the Rambam did, he viewed philosophy as a series of basic principle and worked off them in a systematic manner. In the introduction to the Moreh, the Rambam explicitly states that it is only to be studied by scholars who have understood the work of halacha to its fullest extent. The work was written in Arabic originally with Hebrew characters so that those in the land the Rambam lived in could study it. And the Moreh becomes very popular in the Arab lands at this time because of its similarity in several respects to Aristotelian philosophy. Aristotle’s works were already very popular now because they “captured the imagination of the intelligentsia.” (Merkos p45) Aristotle wrote many works in the grab and formulation of Arabic, which attracted the population in the Rambam’s region in particular. So when the Moreh was published it seemed to the masses to be the next logical step in philosophical study, especially because it was written in Arabic. Not long after its publication the author received requested from all over the Jewish world for copies of his latest work translated to Hebrew but the Rambam declined attempted to translate it. So it took nearly a decade for a completed translation to appear on scene when both Rabbi Shmuel Ibn Tibbon and Rabb...