Tagged Questions
3
votes
2answers
138 views
Was Rambam affected by Islam?
Was Rambam's philosophy affected in any way by Islamic culture or religion? If so, could that influence have influenced his interpretation of halacha?
This question is inspired by an ongoing ...
5
votes
2answers
92 views
How is knowledge of G-d different from any other knowledge?
The Rambam, in his Morei Nevuchim, says that when it comes to knowledge about G-d, we can only know what G-d is not. I.e. He is not limited in space, or time, He does not have property A, nor does he ...
-1
votes
2answers
128 views
Why have great rabbis written of their hard times?
Rambam:
And that was a most terrible event as my brother drowned in the Indian Ocean, he had taken such care of me and now I was left alone and bewildered in a strange land.
Rabbi Moshe ...
2
votes
2answers
132 views
How much of this world is really ordained by Heaven?
On another website, someone quoted the Rambam:
I do not believe that it is through the interference of Divine Providence that a certain leaf drops [from a tree], nor do I hold that when a certain ...
3
votes
1answer
433 views
English translation of Rambam's Moreh Nevuchim (Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed) on the Internet?
Is there an English translation on the Internet of Rambam's philosophic treatise on Jewish philosophy, Moreh Nevuchim?
6
votes
1answer
73 views
Why does the 5th verse of “Yigdal”, not mention prayer as does the 5th principle of faith of the Rambam?
The piyyut, “Yigdal”, seems to put the 13 principles of faith of the Rambam in poetic form.
With number 5, the author of Yigdal seems to have made a slightly different point to the Rambam by leaving ...
10
votes
2answers
91 views
Why didn't the Tur discuss traditional Jewish philosophy?
Of all classical works of Halacha, only the Rambam has a section dedicated "Hilchos Deos". For example, he begins with the most fundamental Jewish belief, the belief in one G-d, that G-d is the ...
11
votes
3answers
129 views
What are Rambam's “עיקרים”?
Rambam, in his Commentary to the Mishna (Sanhedrin 10), enumerates 13 "עיקרים" or "יסודות", which he holds are the core "principles" that every Jew is expected to believe. (Summary in English.)
But ...
6
votes
2answers
578 views
The meaning of Tzadik
I am having difficulty in understand the meaning of Tzadik. Maimonides says "One whose merit surpasses his iniquity is a tzadik". I have trouble in understanding this sentence. Can someone explain the ...
2
votes
1answer
39 views
What is the connection between joy and divine love in Rambam's mitzva #3?
Ramba"m lists love of God as the third positive commandment in his Book of Commandments. It includes the following line, which somehow relates the comprehension of God with joy and the ultimate ...
4
votes
1answer
126 views
Maimonides and the Allegory of the Cave
Does Maimonides ever refer to the Allegory of the Cave from Plato's The Republic?
8
votes
2answers
227 views
Moreh Nevuchim: To learn or not to learn?
I have come across many people who believe that it is inappropriate to learn Moreh Nevuchim especially at a younger inexperienced age. However, it seems that many important issues are discussed in the ...
11
votes
8answers
1k views
If Christianity is avodah zarah and Islam is not, why has the Christian world triumphed over the non-Christian, and why do Jews prefer to live among Christians and not Muslims?
The Rambam quite clearly considered Christianity to be avodah zarah. He did not feel the same way about Islam, however, going so far as to condone praying within a mosque, and many Orthodox Jewish ...
