ABSTRACT
The preeminent Jewish thinker, Moises ben Maimon (in Latin, Maimonides) was born in Córdova. When he was thirteen years old, the city was conquered by the Almohads, a tribe that forced Jews to convert to Islam. Maimonides' family went into exile, first into Andalusia, then to Fez in northern Africa. Then they stayed in Jerusalem and finally settled in Fostat, in Cairo. Before their arrival in Egypt, the father died, and also Maimonides' brother David, whose occupation as a dealer of jewels supported the family. Maimonides fell into depression, but he took on medicine and excelled as a physician. He was appointed physician to the court of Sultan Saladin. His Biblical and Talmudic knowledge was such that the Jewish community in Cairo named him chief rabbi. Fie used his influence to improve the situation of the Jews in Egypt and in Palestine, the latter in distress after the First Crusade. The work of Maimonides is rich and diverse. He is remembered for his Commentary on the Mishnah (1168), written in Arabic, which attempted to make the dense Mishnah, compiled by Yehuda Hanassi, accessible to readers; for his magnum opus, Mishneh Torah (1180), written in precise Hebrew, the first comprehensive codification of all the Laws of the Torah; and for his philosophical treatise, Guide of the Perplexed (1190), written in Arabic, in which he attempted to reconcile the Bible and Aristotle. The first entry by Maimonides in this anthology comes from a letter of 1165, "Ma'amar Kiddush Hashem," in English "Discourse on Martyrdom," also known as the "Epistle to the Jews of Morocco," in which Maimonides ponders the issue of a suicide performed in the name of God in troubled times. Needless to say, this is a timely topic today, and the reader should not be deceived by the abundance of Biblical and Talmudic quotes and references and by rabbinical terminology. It is possible to go beyond these apparent ornaments to seize the powerful argument Maimonides develops with clarity and conviction. The Jews of Morocco to whom he replies were forced to convert to Islam by the Almohads, the same tribe that forced Maimonides' family out of Córdova. He reacts to a previous correspondent, a Talmudic scholar whose view it was that any adherence to religion in a secret fashion by a Jew who has converted to another religion is a sinful act. The second entry by Maimonides in this volume is Chapter XV of the More Nebuhim, which is the Hebrew title of his influential philosophical book, the Guide of the Perplexed, shaped in response to a student whose queries on the conflict between reason and belief made Maimonides think that sophisticated intellects needed more than the Code of Law to navigate life. The book was written in Arabic, then translated into Hebrew by Samuel ben Tibbon. This chapter is part of a section that discusses the power of God. The life and times of Maimonides are indelibly printed in Jewish memory. He is the subject of endless study, riddles, folk tales, imagery, and even modern biographies, such as the accessible one by Abraham Joshua Heschel: Maimonides (1982), translated into English by Joachim Neugroschel.
