25
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 20.2k
25
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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 ...
- 20.2k
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
...
- 7,532
17
votes
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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 ...
- 50.3k
14
votes
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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 ...
- 4,419
14
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 ...
- 36k
14
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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 ...
- 50.3k
14
votes
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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 ...
- 50.3k
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 ...
- 50.3k
13
votes
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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 ...
- 17.9k
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 ...
- 6,943
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 ...
- 50.3k
12
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 20.2k
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 ...
- 54k
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 ...
- 50.3k
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 ...
- 9,590
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 ...
- 11.9k
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 ...
- 101k
10
votes
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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 ...
- 7,084
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 ...
- 50.3k
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 ...
- 50.3k
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 ...
- 28.4k
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 ...
- 14.7k
9
votes
Accepted
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,...
- 12.1k
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 ...
- 50.3k
9
votes
How could Kayin have married his sister, if it was prohibited?
Yerushalmi Yevamos 11:1 (quoted by Rashi to Vayikra 20:17):
"אמר רבי אבין, שלא תאמר קין נשא את אחותו, הבל נשא את אחותו, חסד הוא, חסד עשיתי עם הראשונים שייבנה העולם מהן, כי אמרתי עולם חסד יבנה&...
- 23.4k
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 ...
- 50.3k
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
- 59.1k
9
votes
Accepted
How come the Rambam forbids picking up money found in the street?
The Taz in CM 262/6 asks your question. He gives two answers:
The Rambam is talking about where we know he did not despair, such as when we heard him say something to indicate he thought it was in ...
- 6,253
9
votes
Source for R' Shimshon of Sens's views on Rambam
The reference to R. Abraham is presumably to what he writes in Milchamot Hashem (p. 43-44 in the MHK edition).
ושמעתי על הרב רבנו שמשון ז"ל שהיה בעכו שלא ראינו אותו מפני שלא עבר עלינו שמענו עליו ...
- 50.3k
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