The Rambam, or Maimonides, was a famous 12th century Rabbi, philosopher, and physician. He wrote the Mishneh Torah and the Moreh Nevuchim (Guide to the Perplexed).
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Why don't we just follow the shittah of Moshe Rabeinu?
My question can apply to virtually all mitzvos where there is a disagreement in the standard way to fulfill them.
If one reads the hakdama (introduction) to the Rambam's peirush mishnayos (commentary ...
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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 ...
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Jews allowed to pray and join Muslim congregation in Mosques and Experiences
I had read somewhere in Maimonidian literature that Jews are allowed to pray in Mosques. Is it even allowed for them to Join the Muslim congregation and pray the Salat for they worship the same God ...
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Did the Rambam believe in magic?
If you read through Chapter 11 of the Rambam's laws on Idol Worship, you'll see what seems to be the Rambam forbidding anything that even resembles magic, all while calling such practices foolish and ...
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Rambam, Mashiach, and Olam Haba
Could somebody explain to me briefly what the Rambam's opinion is about the sequence of events with Olam HaBa, the Mashiach and Techiyat haMeitim?
It seems that he's saying that when a person dies ...
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Does Rambam include the Oral Torah in his eighth principle?
When Rambam says that a principle of faith is that the entire Torah that we now have is that which was given to Moshe, does he include both written and oral Torah, or only the written Torah?
If the ...
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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 ...
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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?
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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 ...
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How did Rambam eliminate “ben gilo” from the halacha?
The gemara in Elu Metzios (Bava Metzia 30b) says:
אמר מר (אשר) ילכו - זה ביקור חולים. היינו
גמילות חסדים! לא נצרכה אלא לבן גילו
,דאמר מר בן גילו נוטל אחד מששים בחליו
,ואפי' הכי מבעי ליה ...
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What financial arrangement did Rambam have with his jeweler brother?
I was taught in yeshiva that as a young man, Rambam just studied Torah and was supported by his brother, who was a jewel merchant. Then his brother died at sea, so Rambam became a physician.
Recently ...
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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 ...
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Maimonides and Sacrifices as G-d's concession to Mankind
I've been bothered by this contradiction in Rambam: He says in Moreh Nevuchim 3:32 that sacrifices are a concession and that it would not have been good to introduce the truthest most pure form of ...
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Science of the Rishonim on “celestial spheres”
In the writings of the Rishonim, it is not uncommon to see explanations of pesukim or of aggadic concepts using the "celestial spheres" model of the universe. The Rambam in particular uses the idea ...
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Question regarding ונביא גדול הוא קרוב ממשה רבנו in Rambam's Hilkhos Teshuva
Here is some text from Rambam's Hilkhos Teshuva:
לפי שבאותן הימים תרבה הדעה והחכמה והאמת...מפני שאותו המלך שיעמוד מזרע דויד בעל חכמה יהיה יתר משלמה ונביא גדול הוא קרוב ממשה רבנו ולפיכך ילמד כל העם ...
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What do we know about the Yemenites adding (deleting?) Maimonides from their prayers in the 1100s?
I've always heard that the Yemenite Jews of the late 1100s were so grateful for the theological support they were given by Maimonides' writings (Rambam's Igeret Teiman), that where their kaddish ...
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What God must gentiles believe in?
In the Rambam's Mishne Tora, the end of chapter 8 of M'lachim reads:
Any [gentile] who accepts seven commands and is careful to fulfill them is among the pious of the nations of the world and has ...
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Why are people going back to paskining like the Rambam?
I have heard personally (and seen in chat) people (who are not Teimanim [for whom there is a tradition to rule like the Rambam]) ruling like the Rambam. I have heard that he has the authentic ...
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The Rambam's Nekudah Neflah (נקודה נפלאה)
I heard two people learning about Issur Kolel and Issur Moisif. They kept talking about the Rambam's Nekudah Niflaah. What is it?
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Why does the Rambam (Maimonides) equate all sex outside marriage as prostitution?
Shalom told me about it in his answer to this question:
What does adultery mean in the 7th commandment?
That Si'naf in 7 commandments means only having sex with someone else' wife. However, judaism ...
