gogy, the leader of the community must not impose on his fl ock more
than they can handle, and must take the context into account before issu-
ing his dicta.
In general, Maimonides regards most members of society not only as
incurably obtuse, “like domestic animals,” but also potentially dangerous
“like beasts of prey.”^137 Human society, however, is not made of one cloth,
and every group therein requires a different approach. Maimonides’ gentle
and humble attitude is thus not all- encompassing, and some people receive
a much harsher treatment. Two groups deserve to be mentioned in par tic-
ular: women and preachers.
Women, who are half of any given “nation,” play a major role in fash-
ioning the common religiosity, and in Maimonides’ view it is a deplorable
one. Their decisions, like their very imaginaire, is dictated by matter.
They are “prone to anger, being easily affected and having weak souls.”^138
This, combined with their limited intellectual capacity, renders them prone
to superstitions, and as such, also active perpetrators of “Sabian” abomi-
nations. Thus for example, he explains the idolaters’ practice of “passing
children through the fi re” as follows:
The worshippers of the fi re spread abroad the opinion in those times
that the children of everyone who would not “make his son or his
daughter to pass through the fi re” [Deut. 18:10] would die. And
there is no doubt that because of this absurd belief everybody has-
tened to perform this action.... This was more particularly so be-
cause care for little children is generally entrusted to women, and it
is well known how quickly they are affected, and speaking gener-
ally, how feeble are their intellects.^139In this attitude, Maimonides is not only the child of his time, but also
heir to an ancient and solid misogynous tradition in both philosophy and
medicine. By way of an example one may mention “the philosophical
stories” composed by Ibn Sina and Ibn Tufayl, in which women, per-
ceived as a hindrance to the phi losopher’s quest, are either violently elimi-
nated or are magically wished away from the pro cess of procreation.^140
(^137) SeeGuide 2.36 (Dalala, 262; Pines, 371– 72).
(^138) Guide 3.48 (Dalala, 441:5– 6; Pines, 600).
(^139) Guide 3.37 (Dalala, 400:10– 15; Pines, 546).
(^140) See F. Malti- Douglas,Woman’s Body, Woman’s Word: Gender and Discourse in Arabo-
Islamic Writing (Princeton, 1992), 67– 84 (“Flight from the Female Body: Ibn Tufayl’s Male
Utopia”); idem, “Hayy Ibn Yaqzan as Male Utopia,” in L. I. Conrad, The World of Ibn
Tufayl: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Hayy Ibn Yaqzan (Leiden, 1996), 52– 68. See also
A. Melamed, “Maimonides on Women: Formless Matter or Potential Prophets?” in A. L.
Ivry et al., eds. Perspectives on Jewish Thought and Mysticism (Amsterdam, 1998), 99– 134,
esp. 100; M. Kellner, “Philosophical Misogyny in Medieval Jewish Philosophy— Gersonides