118 CHAPTER FOUR
time, women were readily available. They therefore become emblematic
of the shallow, superstitious multitudes, and of their crafty, rebellious
instincts.
Maimonides does make room for exceptions, all of them dictated by
the Scriptures’ reference to feminine wisdom, but he usually uses the
scriptural context to give this wisdom a restricted interpretation. Thus,
when the Bible mentions the men and women who are “wise- hearted,”
Maimonides explains that it refers to their skill in an acquired art; and
when the Bible mentions “a wise woman” Maimonides explains it as
meaning “that she had an aptitude for stratagems and ruses (dhat talat-
tuf wa-htiyal).”^147 The Bible refers to Moses’ sister Miriam as a prophet-
ess, and the Sages say that she, like Moses and Aharon, “also died by a
kiss.” Maimonides therefore counts her, like her two brothers, among
those who achieved human perfection and died in the plea sure of appre-
hending the truth. But he notes the fact that “with regard to her, it is not
said ‘by the mouth of the Lord’; because she was a woman, the use of the
fi gurative expression was not suitable with regard to her.”^148 Further-
more, unlike Moses, who is presented by Maimonides as the model for
all who seek perfection, Miriam is not presented as a possible model to
either man or woman. For Maimonides, so ciologically speaking, all women
belong to the crass multitudes, and are thus automatically classifi ed to-
gether with ignoramuses, simpletons, and children.^149
Among the many shades of pop ular religiosity, the one propagated by
preachers receives Maimonides’ special attention. Although this kind of
religiosity may appear more refi ned, Maimonides’ attitude toward it is at
the very least ambivalent. The ambivalence stems fi rst of all from the
material that serves preachers in practicing their art: midrash aggada,
mythical or legendary texts that abound in Rabbinic literature. On the
one hand, Maimonides insists on the obligation to treat the Sages of the
Talmud with deference, and to assume that they did not speak lightly or
out of ignorance. He lashes out at those who, taking the Sages literally,
denigrate them.^150 He also scorns the pious multitudes who, taking the
(^147) Guide 3.54, on Ex. 38:25 and on 2 Sam. 14:2 (Dalala, 466:18– 19, 23; Pines, 632).
(^148) Guide 3.51 (Dalala, 462:26– 463:3; Pines, 627– 28). On the meta phor of “death by a
kiss,” see chap. 6, below, apud note 32.
(^149) See, for instance, chap. 3 note 78, above, and see also Epistles, 320, 326 [Hebrew 341,
345]; for an extensive list of such stereotypic combinations, see Melamed, “Maimonides
on Women,” 119– 22. On Maimonides’ attitude to women, see further W. Z. Harvey,
“The Obligation of Talmud on Women According to Maimonides,” Tradition 19 (1981):
122–30.
(^150) See chap. 2, above, apud note 88.