I
THE OBJECT OF MAIMONIDES' WORKS. THE COMMENTARY ON THE MISHNAH. THE SHEMONAH PERAḲIM
During the lifetime of Maimonides, there were many who bitterly assailed him, declaring that his Talmudical knowledge was faulty, that his writings were un-Jewish, that he sought to introduce strange elements into Judaism, and that he desired his works to supersede the Talmud.[1] Some of Maimonides' opponents were animated by a spirit of true criticism, but other attacks made upon him were partly due to personal feelings of envy.[2] The opposition continued for a while after Maimonides' death, but it was not long before the true character of this master's works became universally recognized. The feeling, minus the personal element, that Maimonides wished to have his works take the place of the Talmud, has, however, persisted to this day. Thus, we find Luzzatto[3] stating that Maimonides wrote his Mishneh Torah in order to do away with the study of the Babylonian Talmud. Beer, supporting the same opinion, maintains that Maimonides saw the disadvantages of the study of the Talmud, was aware of the uselessness of some of its parts, and considered its extended study a waste of time.[4] As proof of this he quotes from the introduction to the Mishneh
- ↑ Moses Maimonides (in Arabic, Ibū ʿImrān Mūsa ibn Maimūn ibn ʿObaid Allah) was born at Cordova, March 30, 1135; in 1165 he accompanied his father to Africa and then to Palestine; in 1166 he repaired to Egypt, and settled in Fustât, near Cairo; he died Dec. 13, 1204. On the pronunciation of מימון, see Geiger, Nachgelassene Schriften (1876), III, Moses ben Maimon, p. 70, note 1; Grätz, VI3, p. 262, n. 1; Catal. Bodl., 1861 ff.; Arab. Lit., 199 ff. On his life and works, see Catal. Bodl., 1861 ff.; Grätz, VI3, pp. 261–326; also Yellin and Abrahams, Maimonides (Philadelphia, 1903); I. Broydé, JE, IX, art., Moses ben Maimon; etc.
- ↑ On the opposition to Maimonides' works, see Jew. Lit., pp. 85–92.
- ↑ In Kerem Ḥemed, III, p. 67.
- ↑ Leben und Wirken des Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (Prague, 1834), pp. 6, 15, 16.
