24
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 ...
- 19.6k
24
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 19.6k
17
votes
Accepted
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
...
- 7,403
17
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 48.9k
15
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 ...
- 35.4k
14
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 4,313
14
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 48.9k
13
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 35.4k
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 ...
- 48.9k
13
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 48.9k
13
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 17.6k
13
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 6,753
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 ...
- 48.9k
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 ...
- 19.6k
11
votes
Accepted
Source for a story: Rambam paskening people out of heaven
This is quoted in the Afrakasta D'anya (4: 370) of R. David ben R. Baruch Kalonymus Sperber (leader of pre-war Romania) in the name of R. Moshe Stern in the name of the author of Imrei Yosef in turn ...
- 35.4k
11
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 14.2k
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 ...
- 48.9k
11
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 6,285
10
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 11.2k
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 ...
- 16.8k
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 ...
- 96.9k
10
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 6,854
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 ...
- 48.9k
10
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 48.9k
10
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 24.3k
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,...
- 11.9k
9
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 48.9k
9
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 ...
- 45.6k
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
- 58.1k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible