Questions tagged [rambam]
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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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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How can the Rebbe be considered Moshiach?
I've talked to various Chabad Rabbis, and I can say for certain that at least 1 definitely believes that the Rebbe could be Moshiach.
In trying to prove this, he cites Rambam's Mishneh Torah (...
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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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How can the Rambam's Eighth Principle of Jewish Faith be believed in light of Hazal?
The Rambam's eighth Principle of Jewish Faith states that the entire Torah in our possession - every verse - was dictated to Mosheh Rabbenu and that it has not changed.
However, we have explicit ...
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"The Rambam" vs Rashi
In every shiur I've heard, Gemarah or otherwise, when referring to Maimonides, the one giving the shiur says "The Rambam". But when speaking of Rashi, I've only heard someone say "Rashi". How did this ...
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Discrepancy between Sefer HaMitzvos and Sefer Hachinuch
The Rambam in Sefer HaMitzvos, Lo Saaseh 148 writes that a non-Kohen who eats kodshim/holy food breaks a negative mitzvah:
שהזהירנו שלא לאכול זר מבשר קדשי הקדשים. והוא אמרו יתעלה וזר לא יאכל כי קדש ...
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Differences between RaMbaM and RaMbaN's mitzvah count
I know both the Rambam and Ramban listed all of the 613 mitzvos, and that they differ in some (I think like 16ish?)
What are the ones upon which they differ? If possible please include why they differ ...
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Did Rambam have Rashi's works?
While the Rambam lived a century after Rashi, I cannot recall ever seeing or hearing the Rambam cite or mention Rashi or any of his works.
Is there any evidence that Rambam had access to Rashi's ...
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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 ...
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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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When did idolatry begin, post-flood?
Related.
Rambam famously describes how idolatry began in the days of Enosh (Hil. Avodah Zara 1:1-2) and finishes off by writing:
"but the Rock of Ages, not a man was there to recognize Him or ...
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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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Does Maimonides Allow Prayer to Angels?
In his Mishna Commentary to Sanhedrin 10:1 Maimonides lists as his 5th principle the prohibition to pray to an angel even as an intermediary.
He counts this in his enumeration of his 13 principles in ...
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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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Where did the "a cat will always be a cat" story about the Rambam come from?
I've seen and heard a story about the Rambam told multiple times along the lines of this particularly concise retelling:
There is a beautiful story of a disagreement that Maimonides had with a ...
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Is there positive proof that the Rambam did not accept Kabbalah?
I have heard many times that the Rambam's omission of mystical ideas is proof, or evidence, of his rejection thereof. However, if one accepts the authenticity of Kabbalah as being a legitimate ...
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Are Segulot a Prohibition of Nichush?
Rambam Hilchot Avodat Kochavim 11:12 writes:
הלוחש על המכה וקורא פסוק מן התורה, וכן הקורא על התינוק שלא יבעת, והמניח ספר תורה או תפילין על הקטן בשביל שיישן - לא די להם שהם בכלל מנחשים וחוברים, אלא ...
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Did Rabbeinu Yonah write Shaarei Teshuva in response to the burning of the Gemara?
It is widely believed that Rabbeinu Yonah played a part in having the Rambam's works burned around 1232, and that after the 1242 burning of twenty-four wagonloads of Gemaras he felt that it was a ...
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Which came first the Mishnah Torah or the Pirush HaMishnayos
Which sefer did the Ramabm author first, was it his Mishnah Torah (Yad HaChazaka) or his commentary to Mishnayos?
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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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Instances in Shas where Tosfos quotes the Rambam?
I'm aware of one instance where Tosfos quotes the Rambam:
Menachos 42b- Tosfos dibbur ha'maschil "תפילין יש להן בדיקה" where right at the beginning we see Tosfos write "וכן פי' ה"ר משה בר מיימון".
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Source for a story: Rambam paskening people out of heaven
I'm sorry to ask a source-seeking question (because I don't like seeing them myself), but I'm at a loss here in trying to find what I think is a theologically important Hassidic story. The story goes ...
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Why is resurection of the dead a fundamental of faith according to the Rambam?
The Rambam defines the resurrection of the dead as a fundamental of Judaism. However, unlike the Ramban, the Rambam holds that first there is Moshiach, then resurrection, and then the final result of ...
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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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Rambam's view of Moses's miracles
The Rambam writes in Hilchos Yesodei hatorah (chapter 8),
משה רבינו לא האמינו בו ישראל מפני האותות שעשה שהמאמין על פי האותות יש
בלבו דופי שאפשר שיעשה האות בלט וכשוף. אלא כל האותות שעשה משה במדבר ...
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How would the splitting of the sea have been done with magic if magic is just trickery?
In the spirit of the recent Mi Yodeya discussion of the Rambam's view of magic, a question that has bothered me for some time:
The Rambam ostensibly doesn't accept that there is any reality to magic, ...
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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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Beginning a comprehensive study of Moreh N'vuchim
A friend of mine would like to begin learning Moreh N'vuchim seriously and is unsure of exactly where/with what to start.
What is the best version out there of the book itself?
Are there any ...
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Praise of Mishneh Torah amongst the Rishonim
The Mishneh Torah is often described as one of the cornerstones of Jewish literature. The Rambam, in his introduction to this magnum opus, describes his book as being written:
כֻּלָּן בְּלָשׁוֹן ...
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What shape were the branches on the Menorah in the Beit Hamikdash?
What shape were the branches on the Menorah in the Beit Hamikdash? I have seen the diagram by the Rambam where he depicts it with angular branches.
I am looking for sources in halacha (i.e. sources ...
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Who is the author of the Pirush on the first four chapters of Rambam's Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah?
The first four chapters of Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah have a lengthy commentary that is titled simply "פירוש". In standard editions of the Rambam, it wraps around the text, facing the "כסף משנה" (see ...
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Is the Number of Chapters Per Tractate Relevant?
Much has been written about the sequence of tractates in each mishnaic order. Perhaps most famously, Rambam (in his introduction to Commentary on Mishnayos) explained the position of each tractate ...
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Temple Institute menorah
Recently I was zoche to visit Eretz Yisroel, and my family went on the Temple Institute (Mechon Hamikdash) tour, very interesting. They showed their beautiful menorah, which they said had been made ...
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Is it ever a Chillul Hashem to discuss Torah principles?
The Rambam explains one type of Chillul Hashem as follows (מיי' הל' יסודי התורה פ"ה הי"ד):
ויש דברים אחרים שהם בכלל חילול השם, והוא שיעשה אדם גדול בתורה ומפורסם בחסידות, דברים שהברייות ...
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Rambam on the relationship between oneness and incorporeality
One of Rambam's arguments for the existence of only one God is that the existence of multiple gods by definition implies some form of corporeality.
Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 1:7
אלוה זה אחד הוא ואינו ...
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Who authored the 13 Ani Maamin's?
The Rambam in his Hakdama to his Pirush on Perek Chelek in Mesechtas Sanhedrin mentions the points of belief a Jew must have. To the best of my knowledge these are the basis of the well-known ...
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Uncensored Mishneh Torah
Where can I find the uncensored Mishneh Torah online, or cheap in print?
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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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Is one allowed to become a Talmid HaRambam?
There is a movement of people (including several MiYodeya users I've seen) who believe in following the teachings of the Rambam exclusively, basing their practical halachot off the Mishneh Torah, ...
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Why is the Frankel Rambam divided unusually? Madda-Ahava and Avoda-Korbanot
The printing of Rambam's Mishneh Torah by Hotza'at Shabsi Frankel was a revolutionary achievement. The publishers searched the globe for the earliest and most authoritative manuscripts and attempted ...
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When enumerating the Ketuvim, why does Ramba"m omit Ezra / Nechemia?
In Ramba"m Sefer Ahava, Laws of Tefillin Mezuzot Sefer Torah ch 7, hal. 15, when he enumerates the order of writing Ketuvim, he omits Ezra / Nechemia. Why?
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Why does the belief in Mashiach require that one be anxious for his coming?
The question of why belief in Mashiach should be a fundamental belief (an ikkar/yesod of Judaism of the Rambam's 13) is asked here, and I answered it myself here.
However, when it comes to this ...
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Is there any precedent to read the first 11 chapters of Genesis as metaphorical?
I believe this will be related to a similar question about a statement by Rabbi Sacks. Rabbi Jeremy Wieder said in a lecture titled Non Literal Interpretation of Scripture in Jewish Tradition (and ...
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Yemenite shofar not from sheep
I've heard that Yemenite Jews follow the Rambam for halacha generally, and Wikipedia concurs.
The Rambam writes that one must use a sheep's horn as the shofar on Rosh Hashana. Shulchan Aruch is less ...
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Rambam on Olam Haba, Mashiach, and Techiyat haMeitim
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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What is the qualitative difference between the revelation at Sinai and other miracles according to Rambam?
In Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah (8:1), Rambam writes:
משה רבינו לא האמינו בו ישראל מפני האותות שעשה שהמאמין על פי האותות יש בלבו דופי שאפשר שיעשה האות בלט וכשוף אלא כל האותות שעשה משה במדבר לפי הצורך ...
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Is Rambam's statement in Guide for the Perplexed 1:59 meant as a criticism of the Talmud?
In Guide for the Perplexed 1:59 Rambam cites a Talmudic passage and introduces it with the following statement:
You must surely know the following celebrated passage in the Talmud – would that all ...
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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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Why did Rambam order Mishnah Torah in this particular structure?
The 14 books and contained chapters and Halachos of the Rambam's Mishneh Torah don't seem to have any particular order based on the Mitzvos, Mishnah or Gemara.
Why did the Rambam order his books and ...
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Are the works of Maimonides treated as divinely inspired?
How are the writings of Moses Maimonides typically "seen" by Jews?
Are his works considered to be directly inspired by God (such as the Tanakh) and therefore infallible, or are they considered to be "...
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