Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Maimonides, Moses

MAIMONIDES, MOSES (mī-mon'i-dēz), a Jewish philosopher; born in Cordova, Spain, March 30, 1135. He harmonized Judaism and philosophy. Driven with his family from Spain, he resided in Fez; then traveled by way of Palestine to Cairo, becoming there chief rabbi and the caliph's physician. His chief work, written in Hebrew, is “Mishneh Torah” (Repetition of the Law: 1170-1180), a masterly exposition of the whole of the Jewish law as contained in the Pentateuch and the voluminous Talmudic literature. His principal philosophical work, written in Arabic, was “Dalalt al Haïrin” (Guide of the Perplexed: 1190). He died in Cairo, Egypt, Dec. 13, 1204.