Historical Figure
Maimonides
1135–1204
Medieval Jewish philosopher (1135/1138–1204)
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Biography
Moses ben Maimon, commonly known as Maimonides and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam, was a Sephardic Jewish rabbi who is widely acknowledged as one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. Originally from Córdoba, where he was born on Passover Eve of 1135 or 1138, his family was exiled from Muslim-ruled Spain when they refused to convert to Islam shortly after the Almohad Caliphate conquered the Almoravid dynasty in 1148. Over the course of the next two decades, Maimonides resided in Fez, Acre, Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Cairo before finally settling in Fustat between 1168 and 1171. During this period, he advanced his vocations and became renowned for his achievements as an astronomer, philosopher, and physician—even being appointed to serve as personal physician to Saladin of the Ayyubid Sultanate.
Timeline
The story of Maimonides, told in moments.
Born Moshe ben Maimon in Cordoba, Andalusia. His father was a judge and scholar. The Almohad invasion in 1148 forces his family to flee. They wander for years across North Africa. He's a refugee before he's a philosopher.
Completes his Commentary on the Mishnah after ten years of work. Written in Arabic, in exile. It includes the Thirteen Principles of Faith, which become the closest thing Judaism has to a formal creed.
Finishes the Mishneh Torah, a 14-volume legal code covering all of Jewish law. He writes it in clear Hebrew, organized so any reader can find the answer to any religious question. No one had attempted this before. Scholars immediately start arguing about it.
Publishes The Guide for the Perplexed, reconciling Aristotelian philosophy with Jewish theology. It's addressed to a single student. It shakes the foundations of three religions. Thomas Aquinas reads it and borrows from it. Some rabbis try to ban it.
Dies in Fustat, Egypt. He'd spent his last decades as physician to the sultan and leader of the Egyptian Jewish community. Buried in Tiberias. His tombstone reads: "From Moses to Moses, there arose none like Moses."
In Their Own Words (20)
We are obligated to be more scrupulous in fulfilling the commandment of charity than any other positive commandment because charity is the sign of a righteous man.
As quoted in A Maimonides Reader (1972) by Isadore Twersky, p. 135. A footnote on this page states : tzedekah is translated as both "righteousness" and "charity"., 1972
It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death.
Sefer Hamitzvot [Book of the Commandments], commentary on Negative Commandment 290, as translated by Charles B. Chavel (1967); also in Defending the Human Spirit : Jewish Law's Vision for a Moral Society (2006) by Warren Goldstein, p. 269, 1967
There is one [disease] which is widespread, and from which men rarely escape. This disease varies in degree in different men … I refer to this: that every person thinks his mind … more clever and more learned than it is … I have found that this disease has attacked many an intelligent person … They … express themselves [not only] upon the science with which they are familiar, but upon other sciences about which they know nothing … If met with applause … so does the disease itself become aggravated.
Aphorisms. Quoted in Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Vol. 3 (1935), p. 555, 1935
[…] one should accept the truth from whatever source it proceeds.
Foreword to The Eight Chapters Of Maimonides On Ethics, translated by Joseph I. Gorfinkle, Ph.D. Columbia University Press, New York (1912). Page 35-36., 1912
I have composed this work neither for the common people, nor for beginners, nor for those who occupy themselves only with the Law as it is handed down without concerning themselves with its principles. The design of this work is rather to promote the true understanding of the real spirit of the Law, to guide those religious persons who, adhering to the Torah, have studied philosophy and are embarrassed by the contradictions between the teachings of philosophy and the literal sense of the Torah.
As quoted in The Jewish Encyclopedia (12 vols. 1901-1906), 1901
Artifacts (4)
a great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders standing apart at the base and...
on Universelle. In May 1884 Koechlin, working at his home, made an outline drawing of their scheme, described by him as "a great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders standing apart at the base...
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