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Discrepancy between Sefer HaMitzvos and Sefer Hachinuch

This discrepancy was noticed by the Mishneh LaMelech in his Parshas Derachim Derech Mitzvosecha 4:487, and the Minchas Chinuch § 487, among others. As mentioned, the Chinuch leaves out the mitzvah ...
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24 votes
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Differences between RaMbaM and RaMbaN's mitzvah count

The following is just my understanding of the sources, and if there are any mistakes (ex: in the Ramban's reasons to disagree with the Rambam, the titles given to mitzvos, etc.), please point them out ...
robev's user avatar
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17 votes
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How many halachot are detailed in the Mishneh Torah?

According to Mechon Mamre: TL;DR TOTAL - 16,818 (+ 104) Hamada` - 725 Ahavah - 730 (+ 63) Zemanim - 1,738 (+ 41) Nashim - 1,207 Qedushah - 1,140 Hafla'ah - 820 Zera`im - 1,582 `Avodah - 1,537 ...
Lee's user avatar
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Is anyone against the rational teachings of Maimonides?

Yes, several subsequent Jewish authorities criticized Maimonides, either for his general approach or for specific statements. A few examples: Nachmanides in his commentary to Genesis 18:1 criticizes ...
Alex's user avatar
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16 votes

Did Rambam have Rashi's works?

Did Rashi's works even reach the lands in which the Rambam lived? To summarize Prof. Shamma Friedman's piece, scholars in the early 20th century assumed from Rambam's silence, that he did not have ...
mevaqesh's user avatar
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Why is the Frankel Rambam divided unusually? Madda-Ahava and Avoda-Korbanot

I wrote to Hotzaat Shabsi Frankel with this inquiry, and they responded that the unusual numbering is due to a misguided guess at how many volumes the set would ultimately be: Thanks for your ...
Chaim's user avatar
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Should we interpret the Torah literally or allegorically?

Almost everyone will agree that neither extreme is correct. That is to say, that almost no one will interpret every word of the Torah literally, and almost no one will interpret every word of the ...
Alex's user avatar
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13 votes
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Praise of Mishneh Torah amongst the Rishonim

The Meiri (13th cent.) describes the unique features of the Mishneh Torah in his introduction to Beit HaBehira: That it is omits the Talmudic dialectics, and presents just ruling. That it is written ...
mevaqesh's user avatar
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13 votes

When enumerating the Ketuvim, why does Ramba"m omit Ezra / Nechemia?

Several rabbinic commentators raised this question without being able to answer it: R. Noach Simcha Faks pointed out this omission and noted that in the Talmudic source-text in Bava Batra 14b, Ezra ...
Alex's user avatar
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13 votes
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Did manna really fall from heaven according to Rambam or Gersonides?

Both Maimonides and Gersonides believed that manna fell from heaven. Maimonides discusses the verse which describes the manna as raining down from the doors of heaven and asserts that the "doors ...
Alex's user avatar
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Why did Rambam order Mishnah Torah in this particular structure?

Rav Nachum Rabinovitch, שליט"א, in his magnum opus, Yad Peshuta, (Hakdama U'minyan Hamitzvos, Intro to the Division of the Books pp. 187-190) contrasts the Rambam's division of 14 categories of ...
Loewian's user avatar
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13 votes
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Instances in Shas where Tosfos quotes the Rambam?

According to a quote from Rav Chaim Kanievsky, there are only 3 places in Shas where Rambam is mentioned in Tosfos (brought down in the stories at the end of the 29th chapter of the Artscroll English ...
Salmononius2's user avatar
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13 votes

For kiddushin, why does Rambam say kesef is "mi'divrei sofrim" but doesn't say that for shtar?

Rambam discusses this exact question in a responsum (1:150 in the Machon Yerushalayim edition) to R. Pinchas the Judge. He tells R. Pinchas to read his Sefer Hamitzvot where he lays out the rule that ...
Alex's user avatar
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12 votes
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Commentaries on Moreh Nevuchim

A friend of mine compiled the following list: This edition: https://beta.hebrewbooks.org/14118 has Efodi, Shem Tov ibn Shem Tov, ibn Crescas, and Abarbanel. This: https://beta.hebrewbooks.org/31594 ...
robev's user avatar
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11 votes
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Why does the Brisker Derech focus on the Rambam?

In his article "'What' Hath Brisk Wrought? The Brisker Derekh Revisited," R. Moshe Lichtenstein argues that, the basic change wrought by R. Hayyim was the refocusing of the learning process upon ...
wfb's user avatar
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11 votes

May a woman be appointed as CEO of a Jewish company or principal of a Jewish school

There has been heavy discussion on the proper understanding of the Rambam you start with. I will bring a number of opinions, from rishonim to aharonim, who strongly limit its scope and thereby explain ...
mbloch's user avatar
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11 votes

List of instances where Rambam argues on the Rif

We have testimony from Rambam himself about this. Towards the end of his introduction to his Commentary on the Mishnah, Rambam writes as follows: וההלכות שעשה הרב הגדול רבינו יצחק זצ"ל הספיקו ...
Alex's user avatar
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11 votes
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Rambam controversy

the Rambam literally holds that demons don’t exist, which are talked about multiple times throughout tanach and Talmud, would that mean that the Rambam is a heretic c”v? No, there is no fundamental ...
Deuteronomy's user avatar
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10 votes
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Where did the "a cat will always be a cat" story about the Rambam come from?

This folktale is quite popular throughout European and Asian cultures, and predates Jewish oral accounts. In Folktales of the Jews, Volume 1: Tales from the Sephardic Dispersion, folklorist Dov Noy ...
Aryeh's user avatar
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10 votes

Tefillin shel rosh first?

The premises of your question appear to be incorrect. The Rambam (Hil. T'fillin 4:5) says to first put on the shel yad (phylacteries of the arm) and to then put on the shel rosh (phylacteries of the ...
Fred's user avatar
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10 votes

Is there any place where Shulchan Aruch rules with the Rosh against the Rif and Rambam?

The Shulchan Arukh (OC 259:1) rules like Rosh, against Rif and Rambam, that wool shearings used to insulate a pot before Shabbat are not Muktza even if they weren't designated as insulation as long as ...
Double AA's user avatar
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Could someone tell me where this comes from?

This is from Mishne Torah, Laws of Foundations of the Torah (1:1-3): .יסוד היסודות ועמוד החכמות לידע שיש שם מצוי ראשון והוא ממציא כל נמצא וכל הנמצאים משמים וארץ ומה שביניהם לא נמצאו אלא מאמתת ...
Renato S. Grun's user avatar
10 votes

What does the Rambam mean when he says that the planets have souls?

Rambam discusses this at length in Book II of Guide for the Perplexed. Particularly chapters 4-5 would be informative on this topic. You can read them online in the Friendlander English translation ...
Alex's user avatar
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10 votes
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Mouth of the donkey ("פִי הָאָתוֹן"): how can the Rambam seem to contradict the mishnah in Pirkei Avos?

Like Rambam, Ralbag also maintains that this incident did not occur in real life, and he explicitly discusses the view of the Sages: והנה דעת רבותינו ז”ל הוא שזה הענין היה כפשוטו ולזה אמרו שפי ...
Alex's user avatar
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10 votes
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Source for this Rambam quote?

It's from Rambam, Hilchot Teshuva 3:4: "..לְפִיכָךְ צָרִיךְ כָּל אָדָם שֶׁיִּרְאֶה עַצְמוֹ כָּל הַשָּׁנָה כֻּלָּהּ כְּאִלּוּ חֶצְיוֹ זַכַּאי וְחֶצְיוֹ חַיָּב. וְכֵן כָּל הָעוֹלָם חֶצְיוֹ זַכַּאי ...
Harel13's user avatar
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10 votes

Maimonides mentioning Esav

In the 8th ikkar in the Rambam's introduction to Perek Chelek, he writes: ואין הפרש בין "וּבְנֵי חָם כּוּשׁ וּמִצְרַיִם וּפוּט וּכְנָעַן" (בראשית י ו), "וְשֵׁם אִשְׁתּוֹ מְהֵיטַבְאֵל ...
wfb's user avatar
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9 votes
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What is the source for Rambam's "physician's oath"?

This text was not authored by Maimonides. Upon the original author's request it first appeared as a Hebrew translation, from the original German, in a journal called 'Ha-me'asef' (המאסף - May 10, 1790,...
Oliver's user avatar
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9 votes
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The Rambam's "Complete Repentence" + halachical logistics

R. Ephraim Luntschitz indeed explains (Kli Yakar Bamidbar 19:21) that the penitent must seclude himself with the woman that he previously sinned with. He thus explains the statement of the Sages that ...
Alex's user avatar
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9 votes

What are some of the more 'controversial' statements that are found in Moreh Nevuchim (Rambam)?

Below are a bunch of "controversial" statements from the Moreh Nevuchim. All quotes are from the Friedlander translation, with links to an online version of this translation. Similar to the ...
Alex's user avatar
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9 votes

Instances in Shas where Tosfos quotes the Rambam?

Tosefos to Berachos 44a, s.v. על העץ, cites the ספר המיימוני. ובס' המיימוני מצריך להזכיר בה מעין המאורע בשבת ובי"ט
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