Maimonides
was born in about 1135 in Cordoba (Cordova), at the height of the
"Golden Age" of the Jews and Muslims in Spain. He wrote works on
religious law in Hebrew and philosophical theological works in Arabic. His
main theological philosophical work, The Guide for the Perplexed, he
wrote in Arabic. Maimonides died in Cairo in 1204.
He
was a political refugee and later a doctor at the court of Saladin (Salah
Ad-Din). He was also a Jewish scholar who explained Platonic and
Aristotelian philosophy in Arabic terminology.
Influenced
by Medieval Islamic philosophy, his interpretation of Jewish laws became law
itself.
His
Hebrew name was Moshe ben Maimon; in the Jewish world he was known as Rambam
(Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon); his Arabic name was Abu `Imran Musa ibn Maimun;
scholars simply called him Rabbi Moyses; and in the West he is best known by
his Latinized name: Moses Maimonides.
Head
of the Jews
The
story of his life is symptomatic of both the constant risks to which Jews
have been exposed down through the centuries and the pluralist culture of
the Middle Ages: While this devout Jew was forced to flee several times, he
became a symbol of integration and a man who was just as respected in
Islamic and Christian intellectual circles as in the Jewish community.
In
1176, Maimonides became the ra’is al-Yahud (head of the Jews). In
this role he was a subtle interpreter of Jewish law and a popular judge; his
legal decisions and rabbinical exegeses were just as influential as his
countless letters on Halachic, political, and cultural matters.
But
even when he was clearly playing the role of a religious leader, Maimonides
considered himself a philosopher.
His
main theological philosophical work, The Guide for the Perplexed,
which he wrote in Arabic around 1190, was translated into Hebrew and Latin.
The
Guide shaped theological discourse and
philosophical argumentation by raising the letter to a literary form,
linking Platonic thought to Jewish Messianism, and raising an Aristotelian
naturalism into a major exegetic principle.
Stations
of His Life
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Introduction of The Guide for the Perplexed, 1343, now at the University Library of Tübingen, Germany |
The
life and works of Maimonides were the subject of a small yet informative
exhibition organized by the Jewish Museum in Frankfurt to mark the 800th
anniversary of the death of the philosopher and as a contribution to last
year's Frankfurt Book Fair, at which the Arab world presented itself to the
public.
Photos
and images illustrated the geographic stations of his life: Cordoba in
Andalusia, where he grew up and from where he fled when the Almohads
captured the city and imposed their Islamic fundamentalist rule; Fez in
Morocco, where he studied medicine and philosophy; Akko, from where he was
forced to flee the Christian fanaticism of the Crusaders; Fustat and Cairo
in Egypt, where he was a doctor at the court of the sultan and became the
spiritual and religious leader of the Jewish community.
Some
of his works were also on display at the exhibition, including a 1761 Hebrew
edition of Maimonides’ Arabic Treatise on Logical Terminology
annotated by Moses Mendelssohn; a 1368 edition of his commentary on the Mishna
featuring the pages on which Maimonides discusses the building of Solomon's
temple; and a 1629 Basle edition of a "modern" Latin translation
of The Guide for the Perplexed by Johannes Buxtorf.
Models
of astronomical and medical equipment dating from his lifetime gave an
indication of Maimonides’ scientific education and his work as a doctor.
The highlight of the exhibition was, however, undoubtedly a fragment of a
Maimonides manuscript for the commentary on the Mishna, which was
found in the Cairo Genisa synagogue in the late 19th century.
This
fragment, which is written in Judeo-Arabic, is of particular philological
interest because it differs from the version that has been handed down over
the years.
Click
here (
http://www.jewishmuseum.de/),
to get to the Web site of the Jewish Museum in Frankfurt, Germany.
*Translated
from German by Aingeal Flanagan.
This
article was previously published by the Web site
www.qantara.de,
November 4, 2005, and is republished here with minor modifications
