CHAPTER XIV.

MAIMUNI (MAIMONIDES).

Early years of Maimuni (Maimonides)--His journey to Fez--

Letter of Consolation of Maimun (father of Maimonides)--

Maimuni and the Jewish Converts to Islam--The Maimun Family

in Palestine and Egypt--Maimuni's Commentary on the Mishna

--Saladin and the Jews--Letter of Maimonides to Yemen--

The _Mishne-Torah_ of Maimuni--Controversies with reference

to this Work--Joseph Ibn-Aknin--Maimuni as a Physician--

Maimuni attacked by Samuel ben Ali--Maimuni and the Jews of

Provence--The _More Nebuchim_ and its importance--Death of

Maimonides.

1171-1205 C. E.

In the last part of the twelfth century, Judaism appeared to have lost

its center of gravity, to be about to fall into utter dissolution. On

the decay of the Gaonate, the south of Spain, with the congregations

of Cordova, Granada, Seville and Lucena, assumed the leadership;

but, through the intolerance of the Almohades, these places were now

without any Jewish congregations, and at the utmost saw Jews under

the mask of Mahometanism. The community of Toledo, the new capital of

Christian Spain, as well as those of the northern Spanish towns, had

not yet succeeded in gaining any extensive influence. The communities

of southern France were still in the first stage of their infancy; the

northern French Jews were too exclusively absorbed in the Talmud, and

oppressed by anxiety for what the morrow would bring. The German Jews

were "servi cameræ" of the Germano-Roman empire; the Jews of the other

countries of Europe had scarcely extricated themselves from barbarism.

The restored Exilarchate, the offspring of the caprice of a Caliph,

was not rooted firmly enough, even in Asia, to be able to exercise any

ascendancy over the more highly endowed European Jews. Thus there was

nowhere a center to which the widely dispersed nation might converge.

Moreover, since the death of Joseph Ibn-Migash and Jacob Tam there had

arisen no men of commanding authority able to mark out a path, or even

to stimulate inquiry.

About this time, when dissolution seemed imminent, Maimuni appeared,

and became the prop of the unity of Judaism, the focus for all the

communities in the East and the West, a man whose decisions as a

rabbinical authority were final, although he was not invested with any

official dignity. He was spiritual king of the Jews, to whom the most

important leaders cheerfully submitted. So memorable did everything

connected with this great personage appear in the eyes of his

contemporaries, that even the day and the hour of his birth have been

recorded.

Moses Ibn-Maimun (with the long Arabic name Abu-Amran Musa ben Maimun

Obaid Allah) was born on the Eve of Passover (30th March, 1135, at one

o'clock p. m.), in Cordova. The early training of Maimonides (as he is

often called), the man who was destined to bear the future of Judaism

on his strong shoulders, was calculated to strengthen his character

in a most emphatic manner. His father, Maimun ben Joseph, a pupil of

Ibn-Migash, was, like his ancestors for eight generations back, as far

as his progenitor Obadiah, a learned Talmudist and a member of the

rabbinical college of Cordova. Maimun also took an interest in the

sciences, knew mathematics and astronomy, and wrote books on those

subjects, as well as on Talmudical topics. It was he who imbued his

son with an enthusiastic love for learning, and awakened his feeling

for an ideal life. Maimuni had scarcely passed his thirteenth year

when great misfortune broke over the community of Cordova. The city

was captured by the Almohades (May or June, 1148), who forthwith

promulgated fanatical edicts against Jews and Christians, giving them

the alternatives of conversion to Islam, expulsion, or death. Maimun

and his family went into exile with the great majority of the Cordovan

congregation. They are said to have established themselves at Port

Almeria, which a year before had been conquered by the Christians. In

the year 1151, Almeria also fell into the power of the Almohades, whose

fanatical king, of course, did not fail to impose on the Jewish and

Christian inhabitants of the city a change of religion, as he had done

in the other conquered cities of southern Spain. From that time the

family of Maimun was obliged to lead a wandering life for many years,

without being able to find a permanent residence anywhere.

From his father, Maimuni learnt the Bible, the Talmud, the Jewish

branches of learning, mathematics and astronomy; he attended lectures

on science and medicine by Mahometan professors, and was introduced

into the temple of philosophy. Through reading and intercourse, he

obtained a fund of solid information, and his clear intellect, which

ever sought to penetrate the phenomena of the visible and the invisible

world, and to make them transparent, regulated his knowledge, however

various and diverse it was. Maimuni developed into one of those rare

personalities, who cannot tolerate hidden, secret, and mystical things,

who struggle everywhere for light and clearness, and will not yield

to deception. His was a thoroughly logical and systematic mind, which

had the power of grouping and arranging the greatest and smallest

things, and he was a sworn enemy of disorder and chaotic confusion.

In this respect he may justly be called the Jewish Aristotle, and his

intellectual character made him capable of cherishing the greatest

admiration for the philosopher of Stagira. Aristotle had many disciples

among Jews and Mahometans. Christian thinkers of that time were still

unable to scale the height of his mind; but no one before Maimuni

had so thoroughly absorbed and assimilated Aristotle's philosophical

system. He made it a part of his own intellectual possession, and thus

also perceived its occasional defects.

It was, however, not only his wide and deep knowledge, but his

character, which constituted Maimuni's distinction. He was a perfect

sage, in the most beautiful and venerable sense of the word.

Well-digested knowledge, calm deliberation, mature conviction,

and mighty performance, were harmoniously combined in him. He was

possessed of the deepest and most refined sense of religion, of the

most conscientious morality, and of philosophical wisdom; or rather

these three elements, which are generally hostile to one another, had

in him come to a complete reconciliation. That which he recognized

as truth was to him inviolable law; from it he never lapsed for a

moment, but sought to realize it by his actions throughout his whole

life, unconcerned about the disadvantages that might accrue. From the

point of view of learning, he occupied the first place of his time, in

religion and morality he was rivaled by but few of his compeers, but in

his strongly-marked individuality he surpassed all his contemporaries.

His actions corresponded to his mind. Maimuni was imbued with a most

profound earnestness, which considered life not as an opportunity

for pleasure, but as a serious mission to labor nobly and to confirm

by deeds the great truth, that man is an image of God. The mean, the

false, and the impure were abhorred by him, and were not permitted to

approach him. Hence he had no taste for poetry, for according to the

view of the time, "the best of it is false," and rests on invention

and untruth. He considered it a slothful killing of time to occupy

one's self with it; he would not tolerate at weddings any verse-making

except of a religious character, and it made no difference to him

whether it was composed in Hebrew or in a profane language. Every

moment of his life was spent profitably, he never frittered away his

time, even in his youth, like Jehuda Halevi, certainly not all his life

long, like Ibn-Ezra. With all his severity towards himself, he was of

a most gentle amiability in dealing with and criticising others. Never

did he allow a bitter word to escape him against his living opponents,

and he certainly never imitated the practice of Ibn-Ezra, who mocked

at guileless men, nor shrank from satirizing the dead; only against

false notions and theories did he pour out the vials of his scorn, but

towards persons themselves, even when they had irritated him, he was

indulgent and forbearing. Modesty and humility were his characteristics

in a high degree, the characteristics of every divinely endowed nature.

All these rare qualities of mind and heart were governed by an

extraordinary determination to develop and promulgate the principles

and convictions that lived within him, to counteract apathy and feeble

reasoning, to cut the ground from under irreligion, and to force light

through the opacity of ignorance. Adversity, physical sufferings,

misrepresentation, could not turn him from the purpose upon which

he had set his mind. This purpose was nothing less than to exhibit

Judaism, the whole of Judaism, both Biblical and Talmudical, the

ceremonies as well as the dogmas, in such a light that professors of

other creeds, and even philosophers, might be convinced of its truth.

This design had hovered before his mind in his youth, and ripened in

him with age. To this end he mastered thoroughly all those departments

of learning which might serve him as a guide. He declared once that he

had read all the writings on the religion and worship of idolatrous

nations, which were accessible to him through Arabic translations,

and we may well believe this statement, made unostentatiously, for a

thorough knowledge of heathenism appeared to him indispensable to the

proper understanding of Judaism.

Although he was attracted by many branches of learning, which

cohered in his mind as a united whole, still there were four special

subjects on which he centered most of his attention: the whole range

of Biblical and Talmudical writings, philosophy, medicine, and

mathematics, together with astronomy. In his twenty-third year, he

prepared in Hebrew for a friend a thesis on the Jewish calendar based

on astronomical principles (1158). Although this little book has no

special importance in itself, it is yet interesting, as it reveals to

us that his love of methodical regularity, and his power of clear,

systematic survey, dominated him even in his earliest youth. In the

same year he commenced a work, the undertaking of which in itself

gives evidence of greatness and boldness of intellect. He began to

explain the Mishna independently and in a new light, at an age when

most men have scarcely finished their college career--a gigantic task

in which he had no model to guide him. He worked at it amidst continual

wanderings and while battling with hardships; but so thoroughly was

the whole compass of the Talmud before him, that he could manage

to dispense with books. A year or two later (1159-1160) his father

emigrated with him, his younger brother, David, and his sister, from

Spain to Fez. What led Maimun's family to remove to the land of the

greatest intolerance is a matter that has not yet been cleared up.

In Fez, as in the whole of northern Africa, wherever the bigoted

Abdulmumen ruled, no Jews were allowed to profess their faith, but had

to declare their belief in the first article of the Mahometan faith,

that Mahomet, its founder, was a prophet; and even the family of

Maimun had to assume the mask of Islam. As the religious persecution

had now lasted for a decade, the African communities had begun to

waver in their religious convictions. Only the strongest minds could

continue to practise a religion which was forced upon them, and still

inwardly remain faithful to their hereditary religion. The thoughtless

multitude gradually became accustomed to the enforced religion, saw

in the merciless oppression of Judaism its dissolution, and changing

pretence into reality, came near to lending themselves to the notion

that God had, through Mahomet, superseded His revelation on Mount Sinai

by another in Mecca, and almost believed that He had chosen the Arabs

instead of the Jews. This self-abandonment and overwhelming despair

filled Maimun the elder with pain, and he sought to counteract their

apathy as much as lay in his power, and to confirm the belief in

Judaism in the hearts of the pseudo-Mahometan Jews. With this object

he wrote in Arabic an exhortation to the community (1160), which is

full of mournfulness, and instinct with a deep sense of religion. It

warns the community to reflect that their sufferings did not arise

from a feeling of revenge on the part of God, but from a desire to

chasten the sinners. Moses in his Law had promised Israel a dazzling

future which would assuredly not fail. It was accordingly the duty of

the sons of his race to adhere firmly to their God and His Torah. The

occupation with religion and the practice of what it enjoined were the

ropes to which those who were sinking in the sea of trouble should

cling. Every one should, as far as he was able, observe the religious

precepts of Judaism, and turn himself in prayer to his God, and whoever

was prevented from praying in the prescribed form should, at least,

say a short prayer in Hebrew three times a day. Like the Jews who had

been forced to baptism under the Spanish Visigothic kings, those who

had been converted under compulsion to Islam now exhorted one another

to remain faithful to their ancient religion. Soon Maimun's son found

an opportunity to enter the arena, to give expression to his original

views on Judaism, to offer encouragement to his comrades in affliction,

and to point out to them the course which they should pursue.

A Jewish writer of excessive piety had declared that all Jews who

pretended to have adopted Mahometanism were to be treated as apostates

and idolaters. He who publicly acknowledged Mahomet's mission as a

prophet was to be regarded as a non-Jew, even though he privately

fulfilled all the duties of Judaism, and he belonged to that class

whose testimony had no validity in a Jewish court, particularly in

affairs of marriage. He who visited a mosque, pretending to be a

Mahometan, made himself guilty of blasphemy, even though he did not

take part in prayer; and he only accentuated his offense, when, in the

privacy of his own chamber, he recited the Jewish prayers. This zealot,

in fine, asserted that every true Jew was bound to sacrifice his own

life and that of his children rather than embrace the faith of Islam,

even ostensibly. His theory rested on the assumption that Mahometanism

is nothing more nor less than idolatry, for in Mecca, the holy city of

the Mahometans, an idol was worshiped in the temple of the Kaaba. If

Islam is so reprehensible--so continued the zealot, whose name has not

come down to us--then the Talmudical precept, that every Jew should

suffer martyrdom rather than be forced to idolatry, would apply to that

creed, and he who in such circumstances shrank from death was to be

considered an apostate.

This document appears to have produced considerable excitement among

the secret Jews in Africa. The conscientious felt themselves crushed

down by a burden of sin, the multitude became still more uncertain

whether they should not secede to Islam altogether, since, however

strictly they observed the ordinances of their religion, they were

still considered idolaters and sinners, and could expect no pardon.

Moses Maimuni, who felt the whole weight of the accusation against

himself and his brethren in suffering, and was apprehensive of evil

consequences, thought that it behooved him to write a letter in

refutation of the arguments of their assailant, and to justify the

conduct of the pseudo-Mahometans. It was his first step into publicity,

but this maiden effort bore the impress of his clear, comprehensive

mind, which mastered a subject in all its aspects. He argued from new

points of view, which had escaped the zealot, and the whole letter was

so striking that it brought conviction to all minds. Maimuni, in this

vindication, which he wrote in Arabic, that all men might be able to

read it, took up a Talmudical standpoint, equally with the zealot,

but he proved contrary results from the very passages adduced by his

adversary.

He first of all showed that partial transgression of the duties of

Judaism did not constitute absolute departure from it. The idolatrous

Israelites in the times of the prophets were always considered as

members of the people of the Lord. Meïr, a highly esteemed doctor

of the Mishna, had feigned heathenism during a time of persecution,

and when put to the test, had even partaken of forbidden food. "We,

however," continues Maimuni, "in no wise pay homage to heathenism by

our actions, but only repeat an empty formula, which the Mahometans

themselves know is not uttered by us in sincerity, but only from

a wish to circumvent the bigoted ruler." Then he enters deeper

into the matter. The Talmud ordains that all Jews should suffer

martyrdom rather than let themselves be compelled to commit three

capital sins--idolatry, unchastity, and murder. It was indeed highly

meritorious to suffer death rather than violate any commandment of the

Law, so as to keep the name of God holy. But he who does not possess

the resolution of a martyr, even in regard to committing the three

capital sins, does not render himself liable to the punishment attached

to idolatry, and moreover is in no wise regarded as a transgressor

of the Law. For in the case of compulsion, the Torah has revoked all

obligations. He, then, who lacks the courage to sacrifice himself

for Judaism has transgressed only one precept, that of sanctifying

the name of the Lord, but he still does not belong to those whose

testimony has no validity in a law court. Even if any one should, by

compulsion, actually worship an idol, he would by no means be exposed

to punishment for idolatry, for how could the involuntary transgressor

be compared with the wilful violator of his religion? "Then there is

something else to consider," said Maimuni. "We must make a distinction

between a transgression by mere word, and one by deed. The Mahometan

authorities by no means demand of Jews a denial of Judaism, but a mere

lip utterance of a profession of faith that Mahomet was a prophet, and

this having been done, they do not offer much objection if the Jews

conform to their own laws. Such compulsion, where nothing more than a

word is demanded, is, in reality, without parallel. He who sacrifices

himself as a martyr, rather than acknowledge Mahomet as the messenger

of God, certainly performs a most meritorious action. But if a person

puts the question whether he is bound to give up his life in a case

of that kind, then we must answer conscientiously according to the

precepts of Judaism, 'No.' But we ought to and must advise him to leave

a country where such religious coercion prevails. This advice I give

also to myself and my friends, to remove to some place where there

exists religious freedom. Those, however, who have been compelled to

stay, should consider themselves as exiles from whom God has turned

His face, and should strive to discharge their religious duties; but

we should not despise those who, out of necessity, have been obliged

to violate the Sabbath, but must gently admonish them not to forsake

the Law. Those are in error who believe that they need not make any

preparations for a departure on the ground that the Messiah will soon

appear, and redeem them, and lead them back to Jerusalem. The coming of

the Messiah has nothing to do with religious obligations; his advent

has no absolving power."

This reply of Maimuni, which was in reality an apology for his conduct

and that of his friends (written about 1160-1164), displays the germs

of his original conception of Judaism. Moses Maimuni appears to have

zealously endeavored to induce the Jewish pseudo-Mahometans to retain

their ancient religion, to combat their lukewarmness, and to urge them

to abandon their equivocal life. On this account he exposed himself

to extreme danger, and might have been put to death, if a Mahometan

theologian and poet, named Abul-Arab Ibn-Moïsha, had not interceded

for him, and saved him. The feeling of insecurity, together with the

pricks of conscience, when compelled publicly to deny Judaism, which

they held as their most precious treasure, induced the family of

Maimun to leave Fez, and travel to Palestine. In the depth of night

they embarked (4th Iyar--18th April, 1165). After they had sailed for

six days on the Mediterranean, there arose a terrible storm, gigantic

waves tossed the vessel about like a shuttlecock, and rescue seemed

impossible. But the storm abated, and, after a journey of one month,

the ship sailed into the harbor of Accho (3rd Sivan--16th May). This

day Maimun dedicated as a family festival, for having escaped religious

intolerance and the dangers of the sea. The emigrants from Spain were

received in a friendly manner by the congregation of Accho. After a

residence of nearly half a year in this town, the family traveled amid

dangers to Jerusalem to pray at the ancient site of the Temple (4th

Marcheshvan--14th October). They remained in Jerusalem for three days,

then journeyed to Hebron, and from that place to Egypt, which at that

time bade fair, through the Ajubides, to become the center of Islam.

Some months after their arrival in Egypt the head of the family died

(beginning of 1166). So highly esteemed were both father and son by all

who knew them, that letters of consolation were sent to the latter by

his friends in Africa and Christian Spain.

On the other hand, in Egypt, in old Cairo (Fostat), where the family

of Maimun had settled, Maimuni's name had not as yet become famous.

The two brothers lived quietly, and carried on the jewelry trade,

the younger brother taking a far more active share, and traveling on

business as far as India. Moses Maimuni, on the other hand, devoted

himself to study. Severe misfortunes, which would have brought a

mind less strong than his to despair, tore him from this quiet life.

Physical sufferings threw him on a bed of sickness; heavy losses

diminished his fortune, and informers appeared against him, and brought

him to the brink of death. Lastly, his brother David perished in the

Indian Ocean, and with him not only their fortunes, but also the money

which had been entrusted to them by others for business purposes. These

accumulated misfortunes aggravated his sufferings, and filled him with

melancholy. The death of his brother afflicted him most. His unbounded

trust in God, his enthusiastic love for learning, and his anxiety for

his family, and for the widow and daughter of his brother, roused his

courage once more, and moved him to enter on an active life. Maimuni

appears from this time to have gained a livelihood by the practice

of medicine. Nevertheless, as he was still unknown, his practice at

first did not prove very lucrative. About this time he also gave public

lectures on philosophical subjects. His whole mind, however, was bent

on the completion of the gigantic work with which he had been occupied

since his twenty-third year, during all his travels, in Mahometan

disguises, on sea voyages, and in the midst of numerous adversities. He

finished this his first great work in the year 1168, in Arabic, under

the title of "Siraj" ("Illumination"). The object of this work was to

facilitate the study of the Talmud, which had become difficult through

its diffuse discussions, through the interpolated explanations of the

Geonim, and through the commentaries of his predecessors, which were

not always pertinent to the subject; to determine the right practice

(Halacha) from the confusion of diverse arguments, and to define his

position by short but comprehensive explanations of words and things.

Maimuni's commentary on the Mishna arose out of the author's mental

organization, which ever strove for clearness, method and symmetry. It

was the first scientific treatment of the Talmud, and only so clear

and systematic a thinker as Maimuni could have originated it, for the

construction of the Talmud seems to be directly opposed to an orderly

arrangement. The luminous introductions to the several parts of the

commentary especially give evidence of its scientific character. In

them he reveals complete command over the material, as well as a

logical conception of the method to be pursued.

Maimuni treated, with special predilection, those points of the Mishna

which have a scientific coloring, and into the treatment of which the

principles of mathematics, astronomy, physics, anatomy, ethics and

philosophy could be introduced. Here he was in his element. In such

parts he could show that the doctors of the Mishna, the upholders

of tradition, knew science also, and based their works upon it.

Especially did he aim at establishing that the Mishna contains a sound

ethical and a deep philosophical conception of God. To this end he

turned his attention with particular interest and thoroughness to the

Agadic elements in the Mishna, which till then had been little or only

occasionally noticed. He further explained the nature of tradition,

maintaining that not all that is contained in the Mishna is tradition.

For a traditional doctrine must be positive, and ought not to be open

to doubt or uncertainty. Unconsciously Maimuni by this theory put

himself in opposition to the Talmud, and undermined its firm position.

The tractate of the Mishna, which combines, like a string of pearls,

the sayings of the fathers (Aboth), appeared in the eyes of Maimuni

a veritable treasure-trove. In explaining these he could display the

whole wealth of his world of thought, and he thus saturated Talmudical

Judaism with philosophical ideas. But he thereby became the victim of

self-delusion. It was important for the future that Maimuni, in his

unconscious self-deception, undertook for the first time to develop a

Jewish system of belief. Since Judaism, according to his views, was

nothing more than revealed philosophy, it ought to dominate the beliefs

and opinions of men as well as their religious and moral conduct; ay,

the one more than the other, as morality has no value in itself, and is

only the fruit of right knowledge. He, accordingly, assumed as certain

and positive that Judaism defines for us not only what we must do, but

what we must believe; that it asserts certain ideas as irrefragable

truth. Maimonides drew up thirteen of such doctrines or articles of

belief:--The belief in the existence of God; in His indivisible unity;

in His incorporeality and insusceptibility of change; in His eternity

and existence before the world; in His absolute claim to our adoration

(Monotheism); in the prophetic inspiration of chosen men; in Moses as

the greatest prophet, with whom no other prophet can be compared; in

the divinity of the Torah; in its unalterability; in God's providence;

in His just reward and punishment; in the future appearance of the

Messiah; and, finally, in the resurrection of the dead. Although these

articles of faith rest on investigation, and therefore cannot claim

unquestioning acceptance, yet, according to Maimuni, no one can be

considered a true Israelite or Jew who does not acknowledge them all as

true; he who denies a single one of them is a heretic (Min, Epicoros),

he does not belong to the community of Judaism, and cuts himself off

from the hope of future bliss.

Maimuni thus, on the one hand, raised the Jewish creed to the height

of rational knowledge, and, on the other, set bounds to the free

development of thought. Hitherto religious action only was valued as

the characteristic of Jewish life. Maimuni now called a halt to free

thought, marked the boundary line between belief and heresy, not in

the firm province of religious practice, but in the shifting ground of

religious belief, and brought the ethereal element of thought under

rigid formulæ.

Great as the work of Maimuni in his commentary on the Mishna

undoubtedly is, although he applied to it infinite learning, wealth

of intellect, and systematic arrangement, yet he did not obtain

a reputation corresponding to its merit. The reason of this was

that among the Jews of Egypt and the East, to whom the work, being

in Arabic, was most of all accessible, there was but the faintest

appreciation of scientific treatment. The great work was at first

scarcely noticed in the East. His pupils, to whom he gave lectures

on the same plan, and who revered him as the incarnation of wisdom,

spread his reputation abroad. One of his earliest disciples, Solomon

Kohen, who traveled to southern Arabia (Yemen), was full of his praise,

and impressed on the congregation there that, in time of need, they

should apply to Maimuni for consolation and support.

In Egypt far-reaching changes had crept in, which produced a favorable

turn in the fortunes of the Jews of that empire and the neighboring

countries. The Fatimide Caliph died, or was deposed, and the great

Saladin, the model of royal magnanimity and chivalry in that barbarous

age, succeeded to the government (September, 1171). At first the

celebrated Ajubide only held the office of Vice-Field-Marshal of

Nureddin; gradually he acquired absolute supremacy over Egypt and a

part of Palestine, Syria, and even the districts about the Euphrates,

and the Caliphate of Bagdad obeyed his rule. His empire became a safe

asylum to the oppressed Jews. Saladin was just to the Jews, as indeed

towards every one, even his bitterest enemies. Under him the Jews rose

to great prosperity and distinction.

At first the fall of the Fatimide Caliphate, and the subjection of the

surrounding countries belonging to it, under the Abbasid or Sunnite

Caliphs of Bagdad, set loose fanaticism which was felt by the Jewish

congregations of Yemen. In that place two Shiites had seized upon the

government, and they compelled the Jews to embrace Islam under threat

of great suffering. Here also, as in Africa and southern Spain, the

Jews outwardly pretended to adopt the Mahometan religion (about 1172).

But as the grossest ignorance prevailed among them, there was danger

that the unthinking multitude would proceed from pretence to reality,

and fall away from Judaism altogether. This fear became real when a

Jewish apostate preached to the congregation that Mahomet is mentioned

in the Torah, and that Islam was a new, divinely announced revelation,

which was intended to supersede Judaism. In addition, at just about

this time, there appeared a Jewish enthusiast in Yemen, who proclaimed

himself to be the forerunner of the Messiah, endeavored to instil in

the Jews the belief that their affliction was the harbinger of the

speedy approach of the Messianic empire, and bade them hold themselves

in readiness for that event, and divide their property with the poor.

This enthusiastic hope, to which many clung as drowning men to a straw,

threatened to bring the direst misfortune on the heads of the Yemen

Jews. The pious abandoned themselves to despair in the contemplation of

these proceedings, altogether lost their heads, and knew not what plan

they should adopt. At this point, Jacob Alfayumi, the most learned and

most respected man among them, turned to Maimuni, of whom he had heard

through his disciples, for counsel and consolation, described to him

their sufferings and apprehensions, and begged him to send a reply.

Maimuni accordingly sent a letter of consolation, in Arabic, to the

congregation of Yemen, directed personally to his correspondent, but

having reference to all the members (Iggeret Teman). In spite of its

small compass, it contains valuable matter, and bears witness to the

writer's lofty soul and spiritual refinement. He sought in it to

elevate the sufferers to the height of spiritual consciousness, on

which suffering for religion's sake loses its sting, and darkness

appears as the inevitable antecedent of the break of day. He expressed

himself on the relation of Judaism to Christianity and Islam with an

acuteness and precision which reflect his profound conviction. It

was certainly sad to reflect, remarks the sage of Cairo, that there

should have occurred cruel persecutions of the Jews in two opposite

directions; in the West by the Almohades, and in the East by the

Mahometans of Yemen. Nevertheless they were not unexpected, for

the prophets had announced them quite distinctly. "Because God has

specially distinguished us, sons of Israel, through His grace, and has

appointed us the upholders of the true religion and the true creed,

the nations hate us, not only on our own account, but on account of

the divinity which lives in our midst, in order to thwart in some

measure the divine will." Since the revelation on Sinai there had never

been a time when Judaism and its professors had not been exposed to

sufferings and persecutions. The nations had manifested their hate in

three different forms; either with the sword, like Amalek, Sennacherib,

Nebuchadnezzar, Titus, and Hadrian, in order utterly to root out from

the earth the nation that possessed the truth; or with the false tricks

of sophistical persuasion, like the Persians, Greeks, and Romans, with

a view to refute and falsify the doctrines of Judaism; or finally under

the mask of revelation, as it were, in the garb of Judaism, in order

to juggle it out of existence. The principle inimical to Judaism had

at length discovered that it was unable to annihilate the upholders of

God's religion, or to tear it out of their hearts; and now it hoped to

destroy them by a crafty device. It pretended also to have received a

revelation acknowledging that on Sinai to have been authorized for a

time, but declared that it now had no further validity. This hostile

principle, which sought the banishment of the divine from earth,

attempted to substitute a stuffed figure for a godly child, and falsify

Judaism. The new revelations of Nazareth and Mecca, compared with

Judaism, were like well-executed statues of a man, compared with a real

man full of life and energy. All this bitter enmity of the nations of

the earth against Israel and its divine religion had been foreseen by

the prophets, especially by Daniel, who at the same time foretold the

victory of Judaism over superstition. "And now, brethren," so Maimuni

addressed the congregation of Yemen in his letter, "consider well these

truths, and do not let yourselves be discouraged by the superabundance

of your woe. Its purpose is to test you, and to show that the posterity

of Jacob, the descendants of those who received the Law on Sinai, are

in possession of the true Law." Furthermore, he pointed out that it

was wrong to calculate the Messianic period, as the Yemen enthusiast

thought he had succeeded in doing; for it can never be exactly

determined, it having been purposely concealed as a deep secret by the

prophets.

Lastly, Maimuni exhorted Jacob Alfayumi to circulate his letter

among the congregations of Yemen, that it might strengthen them in

their faith, but to take great precautions when reading it that no

traitor might be given the opportunity of making it the pretext for

an accusation. He himself, said Maimuni, wrote in anxiety as to the

evil consequences which might ensue for him; but he considered that

he who wished to work for the general good must not be deterred by

apprehensions of danger. This interesting letter of consolation, which

was written with much warmth, made so favorable an impression on the

Jews of southern Arabia, that they, far from growing indifferent to

their religion, were strengthened in it, and were moved to take an

energetic share in all the events affecting the welfare of the whole

body of Jews. In later times, when Maimuni attained greater importance,

he found the means of putting a stop to the political oppression and

bigoted persecution suffered by the Jews. For this the congregation of

Yemen clove to him with enthusiastic love and veneration. They included

his name in their daily prayer, a demonstration of honor which had been

accorded only to the Exilarchs at their zenith.

Maimuni's greatness only gradually obtained acknowledgment. As early as

the year 1175, he was looked upon as an authority in the determination

of rabbinical laws; and religious-legal questions were addressed to him

from all parts, a circumstance from which we may infer the universal

recognition of his authority. Maimuni appears to have been officially

recognized in 1177 as rabbi of Cairo, on account of his profound

knowledge of the Talmud, his character, and his fame. He, with nine

colleagues, formed an ecclesiastical board. His office he regarded as a

holy priesthood, and exercised it with characteristic conscientiousness

and circumspection. Where he perceived any abuses, he placed himself

boldly in the breach. Although Maimuni worked hard in eliminating

from the rabbinical world all Karaite customs which had crept in, he,

nevertheless, always showed great tolerance toward the followers of

Anan. Being asked how Rabbanites should behave towards Karaites, he

replied that as long as they kept within the bounds of decency, and

did not scoff at the Talmud, they were to be treated respectfully,

and to be approached with friendliness, humility, and in a pacific

spirit. Rabbanites might visit them in their houses, bury their dead,

comfort their mourners, and initiate their children into the covenant

of Abraham. The Talmud enjoins that we must observe a friendly demeanor

towards heathens and idolaters, how much more so towards those who

spring from the seed of Jacob, and acknowledge only one God. By virtue

of his office, Maimuni tried hard to secure decorum in the synagogue,

and also to remove many long-continued abuses. He noticed, for

instance, that when the congregation had finished saying the silent

prayer, thinking that they had performed their duty, they did not

listen to its audible repetition by the reader, but chatted with one

another, and generally behaved in an unbecoming manner. The Mahometans

mocked at them, and with justice too, for they were accustomed to

conduct their own divine service with concentrated devotion. Maimuni,

who always felt deeply mortified when Judaism was exposed to ridicule,

was anxious to put a stop to such offensive behavior in the synagogues,

and with this motive abrogated the silent prayer altogether, without

considering that it is expressly prescribed by the Talmud. Sincere

prayer was to him of higher importance than mere mechanical fulfilment

of precept. This practice, instituted by Maimuni, according to which

the reader alone said the chief prayer, was followed, not only in the

whole of Egypt, but even in several congregations of Palestine, in

Damascus, and Haleb, and was continued among the native congregations

for three centuries.

In the midst of his energetic activity in communal affairs, practising

as a physician, and devoting himself to the constant study of

philosophy and science, Maimuni completed his second great work

(8 Kislev--7 November, 1180), his epoch-making "Mishne-Torah," or

Religious Code. If, as he states, he labored at it continuously for ten

successive years, the time stands in no relation to the magnitude of

the performance. It is impossible to give the uninitiated an idea of

this gigantic work, in which he collected the most remote things from

the vast mine of the Talmud, extracting the fine metal from the dross,

classifying all details under their appropriate heads, showing how

the Talmud was based on the Bible, bringing its details under general

rules, combining apparently unconnected parts into one organized

whole, and cementing it into a work of art. He justly laid special

emphasis, in the Mishne-Torah, on the necessity of skilful grouping,

the difficulties of which can be estimated only by a specialist

deeply versed in the subject. The Talmud resembles a Dædalian maze,

in which one can scarcely find his way even with Ariadne's thread,

but Maimuni designed a well-contrived ground-plan, with wings, halls,

apartments, chambers, and closets, through which a stranger might

easily pass without a guide, and thereby obtain a survey of all that is

contained in the Talmud. Only a mind accustomed to think clearly and

systematically, and filled with the genius of order, could have planned

and built a structure like this.

Apart from the technical excellences, and the incomparably well

proportioned architecture, the work had, as far as the contents are

concerned, a most important influence on the development of Jewish

history. All the various lines which his predecessors had partially

traced out on the ground of Judaism, Maimuni united in the greatest

harmony. Nothing therein is given undue prominence, and nothing is

neglected. The philosophical, the ethical and the ceremonial sides,

and, so to speak, the emotional side of Judaism which the aspiration

for a Messianic period of redemption expresses, are treated in this

work as of equal worth and prominence. Maimuni united the divergent

roads on which Judaism had been led, and made them meet together in one

point. He worked out to final perfection all the efforts which, since

Saadiah had tried to give a philosophical basis to Judaism, and to

make clear its import, had been embodied in writing. His work was the

necessary center of gravity of the tremendous intellectual structure of

three centuries.

It may almost be said that Maimuni created a new Talmud. The old

elements are certainly there; we know their source, their occurrence,

and their original application, but under his treatment, grouping,

and elaboration they assume a new shape. The rust is removed, the

confusing non-essential matter is taken out, and everything appears

newly cast, polished, fresh, and original. The Mishna, the groundwork

of the Talmud, begins with the question, "At what time is the Shema to

be said in the evening?" and concludes with a discussion as to what

things are unclean according to Levitical law. Maimuni, on the other

hand, thus commences his Talmudical Code, "The foundation and pillar of

all wisdom is to recognize that there is an original Being, who called

all creatures into existence," and ends with the words, "The earth

shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the

sea." This work breathes the spirit of true wisdom, calm reflection,

and deep morality. Maimuni, so to speak, talmudized Philosophy, and

philosophized the Talmud. He admitted philosophy into his religious

Code, and conceded it a place of equal importance with the Halacha.

From the time of Philo till Abraham Ibn-Daud, philosophy had always

been treated as something secondary, which had nothing to do with

practical Judaism, as it is daily and hourly practised. Maimuni, on

the other hand, introduced it into the holiest place in Judaism, and

as it were gave Aristotle a place next to the doctors of the Law. A

great portion of the first book of his work (Sepher Madda) is of a

philosophical character. The object of his work was to simplify the

knowledge of the whole of Judaism, both Biblical and Talmudical,

which in his judgment were of equal value. He wanted to clear up the

diffuseness and obscurity, which arise from Talmudical idiom, the

discussions, the incomplete explanations of the Geonim, and render the

study of the Talmud so difficult; to illumine chaos, and put confusion

into order. The rabbi who had to determine questions of a religious or

legal character, the pious man who desired to discharge his religious

duty of knowing the Law, the student who desired to obtain knowledge of

the Talmud, had no more need to struggle through the thorny underbrush

of Halachic discussions, but in addition to Holy Writ had simply to

refer to the Code of the Mishne-Torah, in order to acquire complete

information. He hinted rather broadly that his work was intended to

render the Talmud less necessary, if not to supersede it. For this

reason he wrote it in the neo-Hebrew language (Mishna idiom), which

was easily understood, so as to make it accessible to all people, and

thus spread the knowledge of the Law, and the principles of Judaism

generally. It is true that he came into collision with the views of

his rabbinical contemporaries, who expected the Talmud to be treated

with the same respect as the Holy Scriptures, wherein no word is

superfluous, and which, therefore, must be studied in the original text.

In consistently carrying out his principle that all details should

be brought under comprehensive heads, and that nothing should be

admitted without conclusive grounds, Maimuni could not help deviating

occasionally in his decisions from the Talmudical method of determining

the case, and striking out into a path peculiar to himself. In one

particular point he stepped beyond the bounds of the Talmud. The Talmud

treats as Biblical many decisions which were inferred from verses of

Scripture by an application of the accepted rules of interpretation.

Maimuni, however, advanced the principle that only those laws were

Biblical which the Talmud distinctly claimed to be so without recording

any difference of opinion on the subject.

In this bold view Maimuni was manifestly influenced by the objection of

the Karaites against the Oral Law. Without being himself clearly aware

of it, he conceded that a genuine tradition could not be amenable to

differences of opinion, and must never, during its transmission from

generation to generation, be exposed to doubt.

Although Maimuni's theory, consistently followed out, is calculated

to undermine Talmudical Judaism, that Judaism, nevertheless, was

in practice held by him in such estimation that he regarded nothing

to be of higher importance. The Talmudical sages were, in his eyes,

authorities who occupied a position only a step lower than the

prophets. He regarded them as ideals, to emulate whom would lead to a

virtuous, religious, and perfect life. The legal decisions proceeding

from them, whether mandatory or prohibitory, could be abrogated only

under circumstances specified in the Talmud itself. In practice,

accordingly, it made no difference whether a law was Biblical or

rabbinical; both were to be observed with equal conscientiousness.

Maimuni, through his religious Code, gave rabbinical Judaism a strong

hold, and on the other hand he helped to ossify it. Much in the Talmud

that was still unsettled and open to explanation he crystallized

into unchangeable law. As he introduced into Judaism articles of

belief, which were to limit thought by thought, so by his codified

determinations of the laws, he robbed it of its mobility. Without

considering the condition of the times in which the Talmudical

decisions had arisen, he laid them down as binding for all times and

circumstances. In this respect he was much stricter than the Tossafist

school, who took the sting out of a too burdensome law by proving

after elaborate examination that it was not applicable to changed

circumstances and times. If Maimuni's Code had acquired absolute

supremacy, as it at first seemed likely to do, and had dislodged the

Talmud from the schools, from the hands of the religious authorities,

and from the Jewish courts of law, Talmudical Judaism would have

succumbed to petrifaction, notwithstanding the rich thought and the

scientific treatment which Maimuni bestowed on it.

However, as soon as the Jews obtained possession of Maimuni's Code,

which was accessible to them by reason of its simple language and

arrangement, they began to see clearly its high importance. In Spain,

it was said, every one copied it for himself; the Jewish mind was

absorbed in it, young and old gathered together in order to master

its contents. There were now many doctors of the Law who could pass

an original opinion on any controversial point of law, and check the

decision of the judge. And as in Spain, so it was in all countries,

even in the East, where the study of the Talmud was more energetically

pursued. The reverence for the great master increased every day,

especially when it became known that his private life corresponded to

the ideal which he had delineated of a Jewish sage. His people lavished

on him the most enthusiastic of praises. "The only one of his time,"

"The banner of the rabbis," "The enlightener of the eyes of Israel,"

were modest titles. It required all Maimuni's moral force not to be

overpowered by the incense burned before him. Maimuni's name rang from

Spain to India, and from the sources of the Euphrates and the Tigris to

southern Arabia, and eclipsed all contemporary celebrities. The most

learned men subordinated themselves to his judgment, and solicited

his instruction in the most humble manner; he was regarded as chief

authority for the whole Jewish world, which revered him as its noblest

representative.

He did not escape the attack of petty opponents, who were jealous of

his towering greatness, insignificant rabbis, who, being superficially

familiar with the text of the Talmud, thought themselves in possession

of all wisdom, and were unpleasantly awakened from their dream by

Maimuni's work. In Cairo itself some Talmudists would not deign to

bestow a glance on the Code, lest it might be said that they had learnt

something out of it. Others argued that the College of Bagdad was the

only seat of Talmudical knowledge, and that he who had not studied

in this school could not be recognized as thoroughly initiated,

and, consequently, Maimuni's decisions did not deserve unconditional

acceptance. Such little minds persuaded themselves that it lay in

their power to compose a like or even a better work on all the laws

of Judaism. The head of this petty opposition was Samuel ben Ali, of

Bagdad, who, on his richly embellished Gaonate throne, surrounded by

his slaves armed with scourges, would not acknowledge any one his

equal, much less his superior. Maimonides opposed a contemptuous

silence to detractors of this class. However, he also had honorable

adversaries, who feeling that Maimuni's conception of Talmudical

Judaism was not flesh of their flesh, scented heresy in the Code, and

perceived danger therein to the practice of the religion. But wherein

the strange and inconsistent elements lay only the more learned

understood; the simple, on the other hand, lit upon secondary and

quite unessential points, and excited themselves about them, as if the

fundamental principles of the religion were in danger.

Thus, in Alexandria, after the publication of Maimuni's work, there

broke out against it a popular insurrection, because it was taught

therein that bathing before prayer, which the Eastern Jews had adopted

from their Mahometan neighbors, was not essential. Members of the

congregation combined, and threatened to lay information against it

before the Mahometan authorities, on the ground that those who had

adopted Maimuni's Code as law wished to introduce innovations into the

religion.

It was only after a residence in Egypt of more than twenty years that

Maimuni obtained an appointment as physician at the court of Saladin;

up to that time he had acquired only a slight practice. He was not

Saladin's physician in ordinary, for the Sultan, on account of the

constant wars with the adherents of Nureddin and with the Christians,

could not visit his capital for a long time. But the favor of the noble

vizir, the wise and mighty Alfadhel, who was also a great promoter

of learning, and of whom a contemporary said, "he was entirely head

and heart," was of as much value as the distinguished recognition of

the sovereign. Alfadhel caused Maimuni to be placed on the list of

physicians, settled upon him a yearly salary, and loaded him with

favors. Inspired by his example, the great men of the country who lived

in Cairo likewise bestowed upon him their patronage, so that Maimuni's

time was so fully occupied that he was obliged to neglect his studies.

Maimuni was indebted for his elevation more to his medical learning

than to his skill as a physician; for he pursued this profession as a

learned science, and prescribed no recipe for whose efficacy he could

not cite the judgment of medical authorities. He treated the facts of

scientific medicine in the same spirit as he had treated the Talmud.

In this manner he elaborated the writings of Galen, the medical oracle

in the Middle Ages; he abridged and arranged them, without permitting

himself to deviate from the original in the slightest particular.

The same character is borne also by his medical aphorisms, which

are nothing further than extracts from and classifications of older

theories. In spite of his almost absolute lack of originality in the

province of medicine, Maimuni nevertheless enjoyed a wide reputation as

a medical author. The celebrated Mahometan physician and theologian,

Abdel-latif, of Bagdad, who enjoyed the favor of Saladin in a high

degree, confessed that his wish to visit Cairo was prompted by the

desire to make the acquaintance of three men, among whom was Musa ben

Maimun. The poet and kadhi, Alsaid Ibn-Sina Almulk, sang of Maimuni's

greatness as a physician in ecstatic verse:

"Galen's art heals only the body,

But Abu-Amran's (Maimuni's) the body and soul.

With his wisdom he could heal the sickness of ignorance.

If the moon would submit to his art,

He would deliver her of her spots at the time of full moon,

Cure her of her periodic defects,

And at the time of her conjunction save her from waning."

Maimuni's reputation was so great that the English king, Richard

Cœur-de-Lion, the soul of the third crusade, wanted to appoint him his

physician in ordinary, but Maimuni refused the offer.

His patron, the chief judge and vizir Alfadhel, acquitted him at about

this time of a grave charge, for which, under a less mild Mahometan,

or even a Christian judge, he would have incurred the penalty of

death. The same Abulalarab Ibn-Moïsha who had befriended Maimuni in

Fez, had come from Maghreb to Egypt, and when he saw Maimuni, whom

he had known as a Mahometan, at the head of the Jewish community as

spiritual chief, he appeared against him as an accuser, and averred

that Maimuni had for a long time professed the religion of Islam, and

consequently ought to be punished as a renegade. Alfadhel, before

whose tribunal the accusation was preferred, decided rightly that the

compulsory adoption of a creed could have no value, and, therefore,

could involve no penalties (about 1187). In consequence of his favor

with the vizir, Maimuni was appointed supreme head of all the Egyptian

congregations, and this dignity descended in his family from father to

son and grandson. It is certain that Maimuni drew no salary for this

office, for nothing appeared to him more discreditable and sinful than

to receive payment for the discharge of spiritual duties, or to degrade

knowledge into a money-making business. He sought this prominent

position not for himself, but for the sake of his co-religionists,

in order to save them from injustice. It was through him that the

heavy yoke of persecution was removed from the congregation of Yemen.

When Saladin had once more wrested Jerusalem from the hands of the

Christians, who had held it for nearly a century, he allowed the

Jews to settle in the city of their fathers (October, 1187). And

from all sides there came devoted sons to visit their mourning and

forsaken mother. Possibly Maimuni was not unconnected with this act

of noble-minded tolerance. Lastly, he endeavored to obtain for his

brethren in faith precedence in the state over the Karaites, and

gradually to oust the latter from their favorable position at court, so

that many of them reverted to Rabbanism. This was accounted to Maimuni

as a most meritorious deed in his time.

The higher Maimuni advanced in the esteem of his contemporaries, the

more his extraordinary ability was acknowledged, and the louder his

fame resounded, the more did the arrogant Samuel ben Ali, of Bagdad,

feel himself belittled, and the more did he become filled with envy.

Samuel accordingly took every opportunity to depreciate Maimuni's

merit, and rob him of his fame. Samuel and his friends whispered to

one another that Maimuni was by no means a strictly religious Jew, nor

a true follower of the Talmud, and they spread many calumnies about

him. Some mistakes which he had made in his youthful work, the Mishna

Commentary, were used by these malevolent people with a view to brand

him as ignorant of the Talmud, and without claim to authority in this

province. Their idea of religion, as Maimuni said of them, consisted

in guarding against the violation of precepts; but according to their

view, good morals, humility, merely human virtues, in short, do not

belong to religion. As the seed which Maimuni had scattered began to

bear fruit, Samuel ben Ali and his allies took advantage thereof to

lower the author in the eyes of his contemporaries.

In Damascus and Yemen there appeared religious teachers, who drew from

Maimuni's writings logical conclusions which he himself did not care to

deduce. As he strongly affirmed, and repeatedly insisted, that by the

immortality of the soul a purely spiritual existence in another world

was to be understood, whereas he passed over the resurrection of the

dead as of only secondary importance, his disciples concluded that he

was not thoroughly convinced of the resurrection, and forthwith began

to teach that after death the body sinks into dissolution and decay,

and that only the soul becomes elevated to a purely spiritual life.

This liberal view clashed with explicit declarations in the Talmud, and

consequently aroused general opposition. Samuel ben Ali was requested

by some one in Yemen to give his opinion on this question of the belief

in the resurrection. Samuel wrote a whole treatise upon it, with

philosophical flourishes, in order to appear a worthy rival of Maimuni,

and seized the opportunity of criticising the latter's writings, hoping

to heighten the effect of the criticism by according partial praise

to Maimuni. On another occasion, Samuel ben Ali directed a letter to

Maimuni, in which, amid much flattery and fawning, he reproached him

with having committed an error in interpreting the Talmud, which could

scarcely have been made by a beginner, kindly adding that Maimuni

must not fret himself about it. At the same time, he did not forget

to promise graciously to take him under his protection against the

congregation in Yemen. Maimuni replied with a heated letter, in which

he showed his malicious opponent that it was he who had erred in the

deeper conception of the Talmud. He also touched upon the secret

attacks made against his great work from this quarter, some asserting

that the book contained mistakes, others that it was superfluous,

others, again, that it was dangerous. "You seem," Maimuni observed

to him, "to reckon me among those who are sensitive to every word of

blame. You make a mistake. God has protected me against this weakness,

and I protest to you, in His name, that if the most insignificant

scholar, whether friend or foe, would point out to me an error, I would

be grateful for the correction and instruction." Although Samuel ben

Ali was readily refuted by Maimuni, he still continued to spread the

report that the latter was no Talmudist, and that his codex did not

deserve the respect which it enjoyed. From another side, from Haleb,

Mar Sacharya, a man of limited range of vision, and with a superficial

knowledge of the Talmud, thinking himself eclipsed by Maimuni's

pupil, Joseph Ibn-Aknin, worked with equal hostility against master

and disciple. But, as the sage of Fostat had warm and disinterested

adherents everywhere, Samuel ben Ali and his ally of Haleb were

constrained to act cautiously. They organized an intrigue against him,

into which they drew one of the two Exilarchs. Towards this cabal,

Maimuni assumed an attitude of contemptuous indifference and unconcern,

which altogether disarmed his opponents.

In spite of his collisions with the party of Samuel ben Ali, and his

prodigious activity as a physician, which scarcely gave him time for

study, he completed his religious philosophical work, "Guide of the

Perplexed" (Moreh Nebuchim, Dalalat al Haïrin) in about 1190. This

treatise became of extraordinary importance, not only for Judaism, but

for the history of philosophy in the Middle Ages generally. Maimuni

appears at the summit of his intellectual power in this work, and it

contains the vindication of his profoundest convictions. The questions

which the human mind starts ever anew, about the existence of a higher

world, the destiny of our being, and the imperfection and evil of the

earthly world, Maimuni sought to answer in a manner which was at that

time considered convincing. The doubts which the thinking Jew may

conceive of the truth of his hereditary religion, he endeavored to

remove in a persuasive manner. He, whose thoughts were ever directed

to the loftiest subjects, could with justice assume the character

of guide to the perplexed and wavering. The external form of this

epoch-making work would make it appear that the author had elaborated,

for his favorite disciple, Joseph Ibn-Aknin, of Fez, separate treatises

on important points which had disquieted and tortured the latter.

But it was actually dictated by the desire to express clearly his

philosophical conception of the world, and his views of the place which

Judaism finds in it, and thoroughly to analyze their mutual relation.

Maimuni was, on the one hand, firmly convinced of the truth of the

Aristotelian philosophy, as the Mahometan philosopher Ibn-Sina and

others had formulated it. On the other hand, Judaism was to him a

body of truths not less irrefragable. Both seemed to him to have

the same conclusion and a common aim. Philosophy recognizes as the

principal of all essences one indivisible God, the governor of the

world. Judaism likewise teaches with emphatic asseveration the unity of

God, and abhors nothing more thoroughly than polytheism. Metaphysics

knows no higher aim for man than that he should perfect himself

intellectually, and work his way up to the highest knowledge. Judaism

also, even Talmudical Judaism, places understanding and knowledge, the

understanding of God, at the head of its precepts. If the truth which

the human mind in the fulness of its power evolves from itself, and

the revelation which the Deity vouchsafed to the Israelitish nation on

Sinai, resemble each other in beginning and end, then their separate

parts must correspond with each other, and be as one and the same

truth, arrived at in different ways. Judaism cannot be in contradiction

with philosophy, as both are emanations from the divine spirit. The

truth which God has revealed must also agree with that which lies

in the human reason, since the latter is a power originating from

God, and similarly all truths which metaphysical thinking can bring

to light must exist in the revelation--that is, in Judaism. Hence,

Maimuni believed that originally, besides the written revelation in the

Pentateuch, there were also communicated to the greatest of prophets

oral doctrines of a philosophical character, which were transmitted by

tradition to posterity, and which were lost only in consequence of the

troubles and afflictions which the Israelites experienced in the course

of ages. Traces of this old Israelitish wisdom are found, according

to Maimuni, in the scattered utterances of the prophets, and in the

reflections of the Agada. When, therefore, the thinking Jew borrows

the truths of Greek philosophy, and adopts the theories of Plato and

Aristotle, they are not altogether strange elements to him, but only a

reminder of his own forgotten treasure.

The whole universe, which must be considered as a single organic whole,

consisting of spheres suspended over one another working in harmony,

is nothing more than the realized thoughts of God, or rather than the

ideas of God ever tending to realization. He continually imparts to it

new forms and shapes, and implants order and regularity in the world.

Everything is arranged therein in accordance with a final purpose. The

Greek philosophy, it is true, assumes that the universe shares in the

eternity of God; but it can neither irrefutably prove the eternity

of the world, nor remove any of the difficulties which oppose the

acceptation of the original existence of the universe. The doctrine

of Judaism is much more reasonable, that the world had a positive

beginning, and that time itself, which, indeed, is a form of the world

and its motion, is not without beginning, but was called into being by

the determining will of God.

The organically formed universe, created and made to cohere by God,

consists of a series of entities of different degrees. Next to the

Deity are the pure spirits, which are simple, and not composed of

matter and form, and consequently partake most of the divine nature.

Their necessary existence is proved philosophically, because many

phenomena in the universe best admit of explanation through them. These

pure spirits, these "forms free of matter," Judaism and Holy Writ call

"angels." Among them must be assumed a spirit or angel who is the

originator of thoughts or ideas, the active world-spirit or creative

reason (Sechel ha-Poel).

In the degree next to the pure spirits are entities which must

certainly be considered as composed of matter and form, whose matter,

however, is not heavy and coarse, but of an ethereal nature. These

ethereal entities are the heavens and the brilliant world of stars,

which possess an ever uniform motion, and are therefore not subject to

the change of genesis and dissolution, but revolve in the firmament

in constant brightness and with unbroken regularity. These form and

influence the lower circle of entities. The stars are divided into

four spheres--into the sphere of the fixed stars, of the moving stars

(planets), of the sun and the moon. These spheres must be considered

as endowed with life and intellectual power. Below the sphere of the

moon there exists a grade of entities which are generated from coarser

matter, but are susceptible of form, shape, and motion. This is the

world of the four elements, which are in their turn fashioned into

four spheres, one above the other. Within these spheres are formed,

through manifold evolutions, influenced by the world of stars, lifeless

minerals, plants, self-moving animals, and men capable of intelligence.

But how is the influence of God upon this multiform universe to be

understood? The changes cannot proceed immediately through Him. The

animated orbs of stars, which are the cause of all transformations

on earth, are not set in motion by God, but are impelled towards

Him in longing and love, in order to partake of His perfection, His

light, and His goodness. Through this ardent striving of the heavenly

bodies to God comes their regular revolution, and in this manner

they cause all changes in the world below the moon, in the circle of

genesis and dissolution, through the reception and loss of peculiar

forms and shapes. This theory of God, of the universe, and the various

motions of the different beings, Maimuni found indicated in Holy Writ

and in many utterances of the Agada, but only in obscure allusions,

as these writings, being designed for every one, not solely for the

philosopher, could not and durst not, at the risk of occasioning gross

misunderstanding, unveil the complete image of truth.

More important than the analysis of this conception of the world is

Maimuni's presentation of his ideas on matters more nearly concerning

mankind. Since God, the creator of the world, is perfect and all-good,

the world cannot have been made otherwise than good, and in accordance

with a purpose. "God saw that all was good," "From on high there comes

no evil." The evils which exist in the world are not to be looked upon

as the work of God, but merely as the absence of the good and the

perfect, since gross matter is incapable of partaking of the good and

the divine. God did not create sin, but sin arises from the nature of

the coarse matter, which is defective in its constitution, and which

can only receive and retain defectively that which is good. But this

evil must be overcome. God has implanted in the soul of man, who is

superior to all entities composed of gross matter, the capacity and

instinct for knowledge. If the soul follows this instinct, it is

assisted by the active reason which has been specially created for the

purpose of opening up to the soul the source of the divine spirit, in

order that it may understand the structure of the world and God's

influence upon it, and that it may be enabled to lead a worthy life.

Man can thereby raise himself to the higher degree of the angels, and

can conquer the frailties which arise out of his material body. Through

this elevation to the higher abode of thought and to moral purity, and

through mastery of his animal nature, man by his own will acquires a

soul; he makes himself a super-earthly being, he wins for himself the

immortality of the soul, and becomes united with the all-governing

world-soul. The possibility of gaining this highest degree is

vouchsafed to man with his freedom of will.

And man can acquire and in a manner win God's special providence in

the same way as he can acquire and win immortality through the action

of his soul. For God's care extends only to what remains and endures.

Even in the lower world of the four elements, this is felt in the

preservation of the species, which by reason of their form and purpose

are of a spiritual nature. If man raises himself to the degree of a

spirit, if he becomes master over matter, the providential eye of God

will not pass him over. And as man can gain for himself, through moral

and intellectual discipline, an immortal soul, so he incurs the highest

penalty if his spiritual light is quenched through a sinful life, and

is crushed by his material nature.

Man has the power of acquiring still more; he can, through an ideal

life, come to possess the prophetic faculty, if he opens his mind by

constant communion with God to the influences of the active reason. But

it requires on the part of man cultivation and concentration of the

imagination, and on the part of God the emanation of His spirit. Since

a lively, continually active imagination is the chief qualification for

prophecy, it can develop only in a state similar to a dream, when the

disturbing activity of the senses is relaxed, and the mind may freely

resign itself to the influences from above. The prophesying of the

prophets always occurred in a kind of dream. The Scriptural accounts

of the actions and experiences of the prophets during their ecstatic

condition, are not to be understood as being accounts of actual

occurrences, but only of processes of the soul, as visions of the

imagination. There are also different degrees of prophecy, according to

the greater or less capacity requisite for them. Thus many miraculous

tales in the Bible cease to appear supernatural and surprising, just

as the hyperbolical style of the prophets is explicable on this

theory. All this arises from the rule of the imagination and dream

visions. Miracles are certainly not impossible. The same Creator who

has established the laws of nature can also suspend them, but He does

so only temporarily, that the old order may soon return, as when the

waters of the Nile were changed into blood only for a short time, and

the sea divided itself for the Israelites but for a few hours. The

number of miracles in the Bible is, however, limited. Wonders are

not, generally speaking, the means of verifying and confirming the

declarations of the prophets; they must be proved by the prophecies

themselves, and the fulfilment of what they predict. Miracles do not

prove them true.

The most perfect of all prophets was that man of God with shining

countenance, who brought to the world a religion which has exercised

the profoundest sway over men's minds. The prophecy of Moses differed

from that of later prophets in four essential points. He received the

revelation without the mediation of another spiritual being, that is,

without the influence of the active reason or of an angel, but communed

with the Deity "face to face and mouth to mouth." Secondly, Moses

communed with God, not in a dream, when all activity of the senses

ceases, but the higher teaching was granted to him whilst he was in

an ordinary frame of mind. Moreover, his being was not disturbed or

dissolved by it, as in the case of other prophets when the spirit of

God came upon them, but he could maintain himself under it. Finally,

Moses was continually in the prophetic mood, whereas this power came

upon other men of God only after longer or shorter intervals, and

then only after careful preparation. Moses possessed this prophetic

perfection only because, through the elevation of his mind, he had

liberated himself from the tyranny of his senses, from desire, and even

from his imagination, and had won for himself the degree of an angel,

or of a pure spirit. All coverings which blindfold the eye of the

human mind, and disturb its view, he tore off, and penetrated to the

fountain-head of truth. He attained to a degree such as no other mortal

has reached, and therefore he was able also to recognize the Deity and

His will with the undisturbed gaze of a pure spirit. The truth of the

highest Being irradiated him without intermediation, and in transparent

clearness, without word or speech. That which he perceived at such a

height he brought to his people as a religion, as a revelation, and

this truth, radiating immediately from the divinity, is the Torah.

This revealed religion, originating from God, is unique, just as the

mediator, through whom the truth was conveyed to man, is the only one

of his kind. Being a divine doctrine it is perfect, and consequently

there can be none which can abrogate its authority, and supersede it,

just as there was none previous to it.

The divinity of the Torah is proved by its contents as by its origin.

It contains not only laws and precepts, but also dogmas upon questions

most important for man, and this two-fold character is likewise a mark

to distinguish it at once from other codes and from other religions.

Besides, the laws of the Torah all aim at a higher purpose, so that

there is nothing in it superfluous, nothing unnecessary, nothing

gratuitous. The design of the revelation brought down by Moses can be

thus summarized: it was to promote the spiritual and physical welfare

of those who received it, the one by inculcating correct ideas of God

and His government of the world, the other by enjoining principles

of virtue and morality. Maimuni made an attempt to show that the

six hundred and thirteen laws of the Torah, or of Judaism, tend to

establish a true theory as to the Deity and His relation to the world,

to oppose false and pernicious opinions, to uproot false ideas, to

remove wrong and violence, to accustom men to virtue, and finally to

eliminate immorality and vice. Maimuni arranged all the obligations of

Judaism under fourteen groups according to his scheme.

Maimuni's ideal labor, to raise Judaism to the height of a

philosophical system, was of the most wide-spread effect. For the

thinkers of his time, Maimuni's religious philosophy was, indeed, a

"Guide of the Perplexed." For to these men, who were dominated by the

same principles, whose thinking, on the one hand, was Aristotelian, and

whose feeling, on the other hand, was Jewish, but who, nevertheless,

were conscious of a deep gulf between their thinking and their feeling,

nothing could have been more welcome than the discovery of a bridge

which led from the one to the other. Many things which had appeared to

them offensive, or at least trivial, in the Bible, received through

Maimuni's ingenious manner of interpretation a higher importance, a

deeper sense, and became clear to their understanding. To posterity his

philosophical work was both stimulating and suggestive. Judaism, viewed

in the light of Maimuni's philosophy, no longer appeared to Jewish

students as something strange, belonging to the past, an extinct and

mere mechanical system, but as something which belonged to themselves,

a part of their consciousness, existing in the present, living in

their thoughts and animating them. Jewish thinkers of all times after

Maimuni have consequently had recourse to Maimuni's "Guide," have

derived fruitful ideas from this source, and have even learnt from him

to advance beyond his standpoint, and to combat him. And since in the

end thinkers will always remain the guides and leaders of men, and the

designers of their future, it can be said with justice, that Judaism is

indebted to Maimuni for its rejuvenescence. So exclusively did he hold

sway over men of intellect, that for a long time his work completely

supplanted the systems of his predecessors from Saadiah to Ibn-Daud.

Maimuni's philosophical work, being written in Arabic, also exercised

considerable influence beyond the Jewish world. He had, it is true,

composed it entirely for Jews, and it is said, moreover, that he

strictly enjoined that it be copied entirely in Hebrew characters, so

that it might not fall into the hands of the Mahometans, and provoke

animosity against his own people. He even cautioned his favorite

disciple to use the utmost care in handling the chapters sent to him,

so that they might not be misused by Mahometans and wicked Jews; but

nevertheless this work became known to the Arabs, even in Maimuni's

lifetime. A Mahometan wrote a profound exposition of the premises

established by Maimuni to prove the existence of God. The chief

founders of the Christian scholastic philosophy not only used Maimuni's

work, which was translated into Latin at an early period, but for the

first time learnt from it how to reconcile the diverging tendencies of

belief and philosophy.

It ought scarcely to be urged against Maimuni, as a reproach, that,

led by the philosophy of his time, he introduced strange and even

incompatible elements into his system; that he raised, instead of the

God of Revelation, who is in complete sympathy with the human race,

with the Israelites, and with every individual, a metaphysical entity,

who exists in cold seclusion and elevation, and who dare not concern

Himself about His creatures, if His existence is not to evaporate as

that of a mere phantasm. To this metaphysical God, he could attribute

free-will only in a limited sense, whilst he practically denied Him

altogether the possession of a complete personality. Judaism, however

much Maimuni had its interests at heart, must be a loser by his system.

As he could not accept the revelation of the Torah in the fullest sense

as a communication of the Deity to His people, he had to consider the

greatest prophet in the light of a demi-god above mankind. The ideal of

a perfectly pious man, according to Maimuni's conception, is attainable

by very few, and only by disciplined thinkers, who have the power of

raising themselves to that rank through the long succession of degrees

of knowledge, which are not within the grasp of every one. A merely

moral and religious course of life is not sufficient, since God can

be adored only by a soul endowed with philosophical intuition, and

consequently only the few can arrive at immortality and future bliss,

and have divine care vouchsafed them. Thus, according to Maimuni's

theory, there are but very few elect. Lastly, Maimuni had to put a

forced interpretation on verses of Scripture, in order to make them

harmonize with the results of philosophical thought.

Maimuni's intelligent contemporaries, and even his favorite pupil,

Joseph Ibn-Aknin, felt that his theory was not quite consistent with

Judaism. This feeling made itself especially noticeable in regard to

the belief in the resurrection. Maimuni had certainly reckoned it among

the articles of belief, but he had laid no stress upon it; there was

no place for it in his philosophical system. From many sides, it was

charged against him that, while he had made an exhaustive examination

of the question of immortality, he had dismissed the doctrine of

resurrection with a few words. Maimuni now felt that he owed it to

himself to compose a vindication in the form of a treatise on the

resurrection of the dead, which he wrote in Arabic in 1191. Therein he

affirms that he firmly believes in the resurrection, and that it is a

miracle whose possibility is assumed with the belief in a creation in

time. He complains in the book of being misunderstood. This composition

is written in an irritable mood, which contrasts greatly with the

calmness of his former works. He was annoyed that he had to justify

himself to "fools and women."

Among the learned Mahometans, Maimuni's "Guide" made much stir, but was

severely condemned by them, partly on account of his covert attacks

upon Islam and the barren but orthodox philosophy which reigned at

that time, and partly on account of his broad views. Abdel-latif, the

representative of orthodoxy in the Islam world of the East, who had

been patronized by Saladin, and had come to Egypt in order to make

the acquaintance of Maimuni (probably early in 1192), speaks of him,

it is true, with respect, but animadverts strongly upon his work. He

expressed himself about him in the following manner: "Moses, the son of

Maimun, visited me, and I found him to be a man of very high merit, but

governed by an ambition to take the first place, and to make himself

acceptable to men in power. Besides medical works, he has written a

philosophical book for the Jews, which I have read; I consider it a

bad book, which is calculated to undermine the principles of religion

through the very means which are apparently designed to strengthen

them."

Nowhere did Maimuni's ideas find more fruitful ground, and nowhere were

they adopted with more readiness than in the Jewish congregations of

southern France, where prosperity, the free form of government, and the

agitation of the Albigenses against austere clericalism, had awakened a

taste for scientific investigation, and where Ibn-Ezra, the Tibbon and

the Kimchi families, had scattered seeds of Jewish culture. The less

the men of southern France were able of themselves to reconcile Judaism

with the results of science, the more did they occupy themselves with

the writings of the sage who in so convincing a manner showed that

pure and earnest devotion to religion was compatible with a taste for

free research, and whose works revealed circumspection, clearness,

deliberation and depth. Not only laymen, but even profound Talmudists,

like Jonathan Cohen, of Lünel, idolized him, eagerly absorbed his every

word, and paid him profound homage. "Since the death of the last rabbis

of the Talmud, there has not been such a man in Israel."

Among the rules of health which Maimuni drew up for Alafdhal, who

had become ruler of Egypt, he threw in the observation that the

strengthening of the soul through moral living and philosophical

reflection was requisite for the preservation of a strong body; that

immoderate enjoyment of wine and love destroyed vitality. He had the

boldness to say to a wayward prince something that no courtier of the

age had the courage to tell him. He was determined not to be unfaithful

to his calling as a physician of the soul. Maimuni himself fell sick,

and was much worn out by his medical practice, and much affected by

political changes. As soon as he had recovered, and calm was restored,

he answered certain questions which had some time before been directed

to him from Lünel. In his missive he excuses himself on the ground

that his senses were disturbed, his mental power weakened, and his

capacities blunted, yet his arguments testify against him, for they

display perfect clearness and freshness of mind.

The great veneration which the congregations of southern France

felt for Maimuni's writings, and especially for his code, aroused

against him a violent antagonist in the person of Abraham ben David,

of Posquières, whose inconsiderate manner of dealing with those who

represented an opposite line of thought to himself had been experienced

by Serachya Halevi Gerundi. This profound Talmudist subjected Maimuni's

Mishne-Torah to scathing criticism, and treated him in a contemptuous

manner. He maintained that the author had not thoroughly grasped

many Talmudical passages, had misconstrued their sense, and had thus

drawn many false conclusions. He reproached him for desiring to bring

Talmudical authorities into oblivion by reducing the Talmud to a code,

and lastly for smuggling philosophical notions into Judaism. But he

by no means treated Maimuni as an innovator and a heretic; on the

contrary, he did justice to his opinions and his noble aim. Abraham ben

David's strictures (Hassagoth) upon Maimuni's work gave occasion to the

Talmudists of a later time to indulge their casuistical tendencies, and

gave a great impulse to the taste for disputation. The rich, learned,

and impulsive rabbi of Posquières also had his admirers. When he died

(Friday, 26th Kislev--27th Nov., 1198), descendants of Aaron, who are

not allowed to enter a cemetery, made his grave, since before such

greatness as his the priesthood may sink its sacred character.

The polemic of Abraham ben David against Maimuni in no way prejudiced

the latter's consideration among the congregations of Provence; he

remained for them an infallible authority. The chief representative of

Jewish-Provençal culture, Samuel Ibn-Tibbon, wrote to Maimuni that he

was busying himself with the rendering of the "Guide" from Arabic into

Hebrew, and that he longed to see the greatest man in the Jewish world

face to face. Ibn-Tibbon thereby anticipated a wish of Maimuni's,

for the latter contemplated translating his work into Hebrew. Full of

joy he replied to Ibn-Tibbon, and gave him some advice how to handle

so difficult a theme (8th Tishri--10th September, 1199). He dissuaded

him, however, from making the perilous voyage from France to Egypt

on his account, as he would scarcely be able to devote to him an

hour of his time. He took the occasion to inform him of his manifold

occupations, which allowed him scarcely a moment's rest: "The Sultan

(Alafdhal) lives in Cairo, and I in Fostat; the two towns lie at a

distance of two Sabbath journeys (about a mile and a third) from each

other. With the Sultan I have a hard time; I must visit him daily in

the morning, and when he, or any of his children, or one of the women

of his harem is suffering, I may not leave Cairo. Even when nothing

particular happens, I cannot come home till after mid-day. When I enter

my house, dying of hunger, I find the hall thronged with people--Jews,

Mahometans, illustrious and otherwise, friends and foes, a motley

crowd--who await my advice as a physician. There scarcely remains time

for me to alight from my horse, wash myself, and take some refreshment.

Thus it continues till night, and then, worn out with weakness, I must

retire to bed. Only on Sabbath have I time to occupy myself with the

congregation and with the Law. I am accustomed on this day to dispose

of the affairs of the community for the following week, and to hold a

discourse. Thus my days glide away."

It may be that the congregation of Lünel was not aware that Samuel

Ibn-Tibbon was engaged with the translation of the "Guide," or did not

give him credit for ability in that direction; however it was, some of

its members applied to Maimuni to translate this work for them into

Hebrew. Maimuni pleaded want of time in excuse, and referred them to

Ibn-Tibbon (about 1200). He seized the opportunity also to exhort the

Provençal Jews to grapple with the scientific treatment of the Talmud.

"You, members of the congregation of Lünel and of the neighboring

towns, are the only ones who raise aloft the banner of Moses. You

apply yourselves to the study of the Talmud, and also cherish wisdom.

But in the East the Jews are dead to spiritual labors. In the whole

of Syria only a few in Haleb occupy themselves with the study of the

Torah, but even they have it not much at heart. In Irak there are only

two or three grapes (men of insight); in Yemen and the rest of Arabia

they know little of the Talmud, and are acquainted only with the Agadic

exposition. Only just lately have they purchased copies of my Code, and

distributed them in a few circles. The Jews of India know little of

the Bible, much less of the Talmud. Those who live among the Turks and

Tartars have the Bible only, and live according to it alone. In Maghreb

you know what is the position of the Jews (that they must affect the

profession of Islam). Thus it remains with you alone to be a strong

support to our religion. Therefore, be firm, and of good courage, and

be united in your work." Maimuni felt that enlightened Judaism would

have its chief advocacy in Provence. The congregation of Marseilles

requested the poet Charisi to translate Maimuni's Commentary to the

Mishna into Hebrew. The Provençals took this great man and his writings

as a guide in all their actions.

When Maimuni despatched his last missive to the congregation of Lünel,

he felt the decadence of his powers: "I feel old, not in years, but on

account of feebleness." He died from weakness at the age of seventy

years (20th Tebet--13th Dec., 1204), mourned by many congregations

in all lands. In Fostat, both Jews and Mahometans publicly mourned

for him for three days. In Jerusalem the congregation held a special

funeral service for him. A general fast was appointed, and the chapter

containing the penalties for breaking God's commandments was read

from the Torah, and from the Prophets the story of the capture of

the Ark of the Covenant by the Philistines. His earthly remains were

conveyed to Tiberias. Maimuni left only one son, Abulmeni Abraham, who

inherited his father's character, his mildness, his sincere piety, his

medical knowledge, his place as physician in ordinary, his dignity

as chief (Nagid) of the Egyptian community, but not his intellect.

His descendants, who can be traced till the fifteenth century, were

distinguished for their piety and their knowledge of the Talmud. On the

lips of all his reverers there hovered the brief but suggestive praise:

"From Moses, the prophet, till Moses (Maimuni) there has not appeared

his equal." An unknown person placed on his grave a short, almost

idolatrous inscription:

"Here lies a man, and still no man;

If thou wert a man, angels of heaven

Must have overshadowed thy mother."

These lines were afterwards effaced, and the following substituted:

"Here lies Moses Maimuni, the excommunicated heretic."

These two inscriptions shadow forth the bitter differences which broke

out after Maimuni's death, and divided Judaism into two camps.