Maimonides
From Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers
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Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (March 30, 1135 - December 13, 1204), better known as Maimonides or by the acronym Rambam, was a celebrated Jewish scholar, philosopher, teacher, astronomer, and physician who is considered to be one of the foremost rabbinical sages in Jewish history and was famous in both Jewish circles and among Islamic philosophers, who called him Abu 'Imran Musa ben Maimun ibn 'Abd Allah. During his lifetime he was the undisputed leader of Egyptian Jewry and many consider him to have been the foremost authority on all questions of Jewish life during his era. His gravestone famously reads: "From Moses to Moses, none arose as Moses," by which his admirers meant that from the time of Moses to the time of Moses ben Maimon, no other Jewish thinker or leader matched his impact.
Maimonides was born on the evening of the Passover holiday to a distinguished family in Cordoba, Spain. He studied with his father Maimon and other teachers, earning a reputation for his remarkable intellect at a young age. However, before he turned thirteen, Cordoba fell to an invasion by the Almohad Empire, a North African Berber Muslim confederacy, and the Jews were compelled to choose between Islam and exile. For twelve years the family led a nomadic life in Spain, but in 1160 they settled in Fez, Morocco, where they hoped to pass as Muslims. This ruse was helped by their multilingual talents, as they spoke Hebrew, Spanish, and Arabic, but it became increasingly dangerous because Maimonides, just 25 years old, was gaining a reputation as a scholar, and the authorities inquired into his religious beliefs. He was charged by an informer with the crime of having converted from Islam to Judaism, which carried a death sentence, but a Muslim friend, the poet and theologian Abu al-'Arab alMu'ishah, intervened, and Maimonides proved that he had always been a Jew. The family then fled to Fostat, near Cairo, Egypt, where Jews were permitted to practice their faith openly.
Soon after arriving in Egypt, troubles overtook the family of Moses ben Maimon. First his father died, and then his brother David, a successful jewelry merchant who was the sole support of the family, was lost in a shipwreck that also destroyed their fortune. Paid rabbinical positions did not exist at that time, so Maimonides took up the medical profession. In addition to treating private patients, he lectured at a hospital. His skill as a physician was so great that he became the court doctor to Saladin, the famed Kurdish Muslim commander who fought the European forces during the Third Crusade. At the same time, he served the Jewish community as a teacher, theologian, and counsellor and continued his scholarly pursuits on the side.
Maimonides wrote extensively in both Arabic and Hebrew. At sixteen, while still in Fez, he authored the "Treatise on Logical Terminology" ("Millot ha-Higgayon"), an introduction to the language used in logic and metaphysics. Another early work was his "Essay on the Calendar" ("Maʾamar haʿibur"). At the age of twenty-three, he began his first major project, the "Mishneh Torah" ("Kitāb al-Sirāj") a comprehensive code summarizing all of Jewish law, in which he also explained individual scriptural terms and passages with supporting information from archaeology, theology, and science. In order to make the book more accessible to the general public, he divided Jewish laws into 14 sections, covering topics such as Jewish faith, idolatry, family and social ethics, justice, legal contracts, holidays, prayer, Temple rituals, dietary laws, and more.
His next major work, completed over the course of fifteen years, was "The Guide for the Perplexed" ("Dalālat al-ḥāʾirīn"). Aimed at an audience of intellectually sophisticated readers who were both faithful to the Torah and versed in Greek philosophy, this book was an attempt to reconcile faith with reason. Maimonides argued that divine revelation and rational philosophy ultimately lead to the same truth. He believed that both Moses and Aristotle, though separated by centuries, sought the same ultimate reality. This rationalist approach sparked controversy, but over time, his views were accepted within Jewish thought, and his philosophy found a place within both Orthodox and Reform Jewish denominations.
Maimonides also made important contributions to medical science through his 11 medical texts, which had an influence on the study of medicine throughout Africa, Europe, and Asia. As a diagnostician, he accurately described conditions such as asthma, diabetes, hepatitis, and pneumonia. In 1198 he wrote a treatise called "On the Regimen of Health" for al-Malik al-Afḍal Nūr al-Dīn Alī,the eldest son of Saladin, who complained of constipation, indigestion, and depression; this book is now considered to be the first description of psychosomatic illness and how to treat it. He emphasized preventive medicine and good nutrition, warned against over consumption of salt ("old salty cheeses and salty fish"), and advocated bathing before sleep as a preventive for insomnia. He told patients to get eight hours of sleep every night, awaken at sunrise, and exercise before eating breakfast. Modern Jews are well known for prescribing chicken soup to family and friends at the first sign of any illness. This practice comes directly from the teachings of Maimonides, who wrote much about the different types of soup made from fowl and their respective health benefits. Among other things he stated that chicken soup "neutralizes the body's constitution," is "an excellent food." He prescribed soup made from boiled roosters to those who had asthma and taught that chicken soup "is a medication for the beginning of leprosy" which also "fattens the body substance of the emaciated and those convalescing from illness." He even presented his readers with detailed recipes for restorative chicken soup made with onions and carrots. He recommended that "One should never eat unless hungry, or drink unless thirsty ... One should not eat to the point of filling the belly, but should leave off at about a quarter short of fullness." He recommended that people take "the path of moderation, in accordance with the dictates of nature, eating, drinking, enjoying legitimate sexual intercourse, all in moderation, and living among people in honesty and uprightness, but not dwelling in the wilderness, or in the mountains, or clothing oneself in garments of hair and wool, or afflicting the body."
In his writings, Maimonides displayed a propensity for devising numbered and ordered lists. Among these is his famous summary of Jewish belief, the "Thirteen Principles of Faith", which he described as "the fundamental truths of our religion and its very foundations." He also catalogued the varieties of charity in his "Eight Levels of Giving" and outlined "The Twelve Modes of Prophecy" in "The "Guide for the Perplexed."
During his lifetime, Maimonides was an admired scholar, the recognized leader of Egyptian Jewry, and a decisive authority on Jewish law. Despite his achievements, he often wrote of the physical toll that his responsibilities took on him. He died in 1204 at the age of 69 and was buried in Tiberias, in the Land of Israel. His grave site remains a pilgrimage destination for Jews from around the world, a testament to his enduring influence as a spiritual leader.
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