Maimonides after 800 Years : Essays on Maimonides and His Influence

by Harris, Jay M.

• ISBN13: 9780674025905
• ISBN10: 0674025903
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-02-28
• Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr

Summary

Moses Maimonides was the most significant Jewish thinker, jurist, and doctor of the Middle Ages. Author of a monumental code of Jewish law, and the most influential and controversial work of Jewish philosophy, Maimonides looms larger than any other figure in the Jewish Middle Ages. The essays in this volume were written to mark the 800th anniversary of Maimonides' death in 1204. Written by the leading scholars in the field, they cover all aspects of Maimonides' work and infuence. From his work on Jewish law to his unique understanding of God; from his view of the soul to his understanding of other religions; from his influence on Jewish scholars in the eastern Mediterranean to his impact on the emergence of modern Judaism-- the essays in this volume cover all this and more. It is an indispensable collection for all those interested in the history of Judaism over the last 800 years.

Table of Contents

The Maimonidean Dynasty - Between Conservatism and Revolution	p. 1
Saadia's Halakhic Monographs and the Mishneh Torah	p. 19
Beyond the Faithful Disciple: Samuel Ibn Tibbon's Criticism of Maimonides	p. 33
Maimonides on the Soul	p. 65
What Is the Mishneh Torah? On Codification and Ambivalence	p. 81
The Image of Moses in Maimonides' Thought	p. 113
Monotonically Decreasing Esoterism and the Purpose of The Guide of the Perplexed	p. 135
Maimonides on Divine Religion	p. 151
Tradition and Innovation in Maimonides' Attitude toward Other Religions	p. 167
Maimonides in the Eastern Mediterranean: The Case of Rashi's Resisting Readers	p. 183
Possible Sources of Maimonides' Theological Conservatism in His Later Writings	p. 207
The "Rambam Revival" in Early Modern Jewish Thought: Maskilim, Mitnagdim, and Hasidim on Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed	p. 231
Philosophy and Leadership in Maimonides	p. 257
Maimonides, Samuel Ibn Tibbon, and the Construction of a Jewish Tradition of Philosophy	p. 291
Literary Structure and Ethical Theory in Sefer ha-Madda'	p. 307
Mishneh Torah: Polemic and Art	p. 327
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