Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology
252Extract 3: G. Robinson, ‘The Philosophers: The Continuing Evolution
of Jewish Thought’ (2008)
Taken from: Essent ial Judaism: A Complet e Guide t o Beliefs, Cust om & Rit uals
(Simon and Sc huster, 2008), Chapter 8, The Philosophers: The c ontinuing evolution
of Jewish Thought, pp.415-421 and 428-433.
Maimonides (c. 1135 C.E. – 1204 C.E.)
He is one of the giants of Jewish thought, either inside or outside the c irc le of
fait h. He wrote the definitive study of the 613 mit zvot, some of t he most inc isive
c ommentaries on Talmud and Torah, and the most distinguished work on explic itly
Jewish philosophy until this c entury. And he was an important and highly regarded
physic ian and Jewish c ommunal leader.
Moses ben Maimon, called Maimonides (the Greek equivalent of ben Maimon,
meaning “son of Maimon” in both languages), is a towering figure in Judaism,
indeed in medieval philosophy. More than just a philosopher, though, he is revered
in the Orthodox world as one of the greatest arbiters of halakhah, author of the
voluminous legal c ode, t he Mishneh Torah.
Maimonides (who is also oft en c alled Ramba m, an ac ronym for Rabbi Moses
ben Maimon) was born in Cordoba, Spain, the son of that city’s dayan/rabbinical
judge. His was a well-to -do family of scholars, and the boy was educated by his
father until he reac hed the age of a bar mitzvah. Although relations between the
Jewish c ommunit y and Spain’s Muslim rulers were fairly c ordial, in 1148 t he family
was forced to flee Cordoba, one step ahead of the rise to power of the fanatical
Almohade Dynasty. For the next eight or nine years, they wandered through Spain,
probably undergoing a false conversion to Islam as a safeguard against furt her
persec ution. Maimonides set t led in Fez, Moroc c o, in 1160. It was there that he
rec eived his t raining in medic ine. Event ually set t ling in Cairo, Maimonides bec ame
the c ourt physic ian of the great Muslim leader, Saladin, and a highly respec ted
leader of the Jewish c ommunity there. It was in Cairo t hat he would die, holding
both these honoured positions up to the time of his death. Most of his important
writ ing was done while he lived in Cairo. He is buried in Israel in T iberias, and
pilgrims st ill go to his grave every day. Maimonides’ writ ings fall essent ially int o t wo
groups, the halakhic and t he philosophic al. The writings on halakhah inc luding his
Commentary to the Mishnah, written when he was still a young man and inc luding
his famous “13 Princ iples of the Jewish Faith” (see sidebar below); numerous
pastoral letters and responsa, written in answer to queries from Jewish
c ommunities throughout the Mediterranean at a time when these c ommunities were
under a variet y of pressures ranging from forc ed conversions to false messiahs; the
Sefer Ha-Mit zvot/Book of the Commandments, enumerating and explaining the 613
c ommandments; and the Mishneh Torah (also known as Y ad Ha-Khazakah/the
Mighty Hand), a monumental, comprehensive, and systematic code of Jewish law,
organized and writ t en in a c lear, luc id st yle.