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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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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What does Maimonides say about geocentrism?
I have read that Maimonides described the universe in a geocentric fashion, but I have not been able to find the specific passages to which they refer.
What does Maimonides say about geocentrism?
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Hebrew text for Rambam's letter to Ovadia the Ger online and good Hebrew shiur on it
Does anyone know where I can find the Hebrew text for the Rambam's letter to Ovadia the Ger online, and a good Hebrew language shiur on it?
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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 Feinstein (...
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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 ...
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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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multiple versions for Baruch She'amar
Being that Baruch She'amar fell from the sky (as said in the Baeir Heiteiv Orach Chaim 51:1), how is it that the Rambam (seder tefilos kal hashna) has a different version than what we have in our ...
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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 Sex Outside Marriage Still a Sin After the Invention of Paternity Tests?
I asked something like this. The reasoning if I can remember:
You should not sell your daughter as prostitute.
Rambam said that all sex outside marriage is prostitution.
Therefore sex outside ...
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If a Beis Din Makes a Mistake When Calculating Kiddush HaChodesh, Does it Count?
On one hand, the Rambam says (in 2:10)
Once the court sanctifies the new month, it remains sanctified regardless of whether they erred unwittingly, they were led astray [by false witnesses], or they ...
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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 ...
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Is it prohibited to derive benefit from a mixture of milk and meat if the animal was improperly slaughtered?
Is it prohibited to derive benefit from a mixture of milk and meat if the animal was improperly slaughtered? Assume the animal slaughtered, like the milk-giving animal, is kosher, but the slaughter ...
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How did Avraham refer to his father the Rambam in writing?
What term did Avraham ben haRambam use when referring to his father in his writings? (Compare to R' Ya'akov ben Asher (the Tur), referring to his father (the Rosh), as Adoni Avi or A"A.) Did he use a ...
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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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What does "Comp." at the end of a posuk's translation mean?
I.e. 201 results for Comp. here: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Guide_for_the_Perplexed_(Friedlander)/Part_III/Chapters#CHAPTER_XLVI
I assume it means "end of verse" or something?
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Rambam Tzitzith: 7 or 13 chulyoth?
The Gemara says you have to tie no fewer than 7 chulyos and no more than 13. According to most shitas, 13 is the ideal. My question is, according to the Rambam, can you do whatever you want - 7 or 13? ...
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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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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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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.
Some ...
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Rambam placement of Hilchos Megilla vaChanukah
Why does the Rambam in Mishneh Torah in the Sefer Zmanim place Hilchos Chanukah and Hilchos Purim together in Megillah vaChanukah instead of just placing them separately and why in the title is ...
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Rambam versus Ramban on Maccabees' taking the kingship from Yehuda
The Ramban (Nahmanides) in Parshas Vayachi says that the the Maccabees' children where killed out because they took the kingship from Shevet Yehuda. I was told (in the name of Reb Solovechick) the ...
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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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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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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 ...
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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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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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Looking for a good version of Maimonides Introduction to his Commentary on the Mishna available online
I while ago, I read through most of an English translation Rambam's Introduction to his Commentary on the Mishnah. I think it was an earlier edition of this one, but I'm not sure.
I'm looking for a ...
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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 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 ...
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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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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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Maimonides and the Allegory of the Cave
Does Maimonides ever refer to the Allegory of the Cave from Plato's The Republic?
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Rambam Quote About Books
Where can this quote be found in Rambam: "Do not consider it proof just because it is written in books, for a liar who will deceive with his tongue will not hesitate to do the same with his pen."?
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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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"Hagahos MaimoniYOS"?
Is the correct title for the work abbreviated "ה"מ" "Hagahos Maimoni" or "Hagahos Maimoniyos"?
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Rambam's Letter to Samuel Ibn Tibbon on Translation
anyone know where I could find Rambam's letter to Ibn Tibbon on translation? He talked about how not to translate too literally, etc.
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"Ramba"m" or "The Ramba"m"?
I often hear the Hebrew abbreviation for Maimonides appended to a definite article but don't quite understand why it should be there when the unabbreviated name would (I think) never warrant such an ...
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What is the original (Judeo-Arabic) of "gates of interpretation are not locked before us" in Moreh Nevuchim?
What is the original phrasing of the "gates of interpretation are not locked before us" (i.e. ולא שערי הפירוש סתומים בפנינו) in Guide to the Perplexed 2:25? That is, what is it in Rambam's Judeo-...
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Rambam in the Original Judeo Arabic
Any one know where I can find any of Rambam's works in the original Judeo-Arabic (preferably online and not a manuscript but an easily readable text)?
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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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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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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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Peirush HaMishnah L'Rambam
Anyone know where I can find Rambam's commentary on Mishnah online? I am especially looking for his commentary to Avos.
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Source in Arabic for "ושמע האמת ממי שאמרה"
Rambam says "ושמע האמת ממי שאמרה" ("Accept the truth from whomever says it") in Shmonah Perakim. Does anyone know what he said in the original Judeo Arabic?
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What's the significance of "a loved Mitzvah"?
The Rambam In Hilchos Chanukah (4:12) says:
מצות נר חנוכה, מצוה חביבה היא עד מאוד
(Loose translation) The commandment of the lights of Chanukah is a
commandment that is very much adored.
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Uncensored Mishneh Torah
Where can I find the uncensored Mishneh Torah online, or cheap in print?
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What was the earliest use of the Rambam's language in Shmita V'Yovel in support of kollel study?
Here's the Rambam, waxing poetic at the end of Laws of Shmita and Yovel (and his entire volume of Zeraim):
ולא שבט לוי בלבד, אלא כל איש ואיש מכל באי העולם אשר נדבה רוחו אותו והבינו מדעו להיבדל לעמוד ...
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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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