The Genius who Reshaped Judaism: Moses Maimonides

Introducing the genius philosopher, torah scholar and physician, the man whose books were banned and burned and still went on to change the face of Judaism; Moses Maimonides, the Rambam.

In collaboration with @TheEsotericaChannel and @LetsTalkReligion

Bonus:

00:00 Intro
02:05 His Life
04:07 His Work
15:01 His Legacy
17:28 Next Week

Maimonides timeline:

1138 Born in Cordoba, Spain under Almoravid rule.
1148 Cordoba invaded by the Almohades. Maimonides flees.
1158 Maimonides starts work on intercalation and Astronomy
1160 Family surfaces in Fez, the Almohad capital in Morocco.
1165 Family spends 6 months in Acre before leaving for Cairo
1168 Maimonides finishes his commentary on the Mishna
1170 Writes the Sefer haMitzvot on the 613 commandments.
1171 He is appointed the Head of Jews in Fostat, Cairo.
1171 Saladin/Ayyubids replace the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt.
1180 Finishes the Mishneh Torah, his legal magnum opus.
1185? Maimonides becomes doctor of al-Fadil, Saladin’s vizier.
1190 Finishes the Moreh Nevuchim (Guide for the Perplexed).
1204 Maimonides passes away.

Maimonides works (selection):

Treatise on Logic, Millot ha-Higayon
Commentary on the Mishna, Pirush HaMishnayot
Book of the Commandments, Sefer haMitzvot
Mishneh Torah, Yad HaChazakah
The Guide for the Perplexed, Moreh Nevuchim
Letter to the Jews of Yemen, Iggeret Teiman
Treatise on Resurrection, Maamar Tekhiyat HaMetim
Iggeret HaShmad, Maamar Kiddush HaShem

Mark Daniels, The Perplexing Nature of the Guide for the Perplexed, Philosophy Now, Issue 50

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[SeekersofUnity]

Part 2: How Many Maimonides are there?

[jojodio]

I found this Channel very recently, and what a discovery! I absolute love all your work, finding it to be very hopeful.
Greetings from a Tibetan Buddhist.

[justinbirkholz]

Man... Maimonides is one of those figures who seriously raised the bar for what a human being is capable of accomplishing in one lifetime. It's truly mind-blowing to think about. Can't wait for the next video and the collab videos from two of my other favorite content creators!

[Jason-msbv]

Densely informative, academically excellent and presented with real sincerity, as usual Zevi! I get the feeling however that Maimonides is particularly close to your heart. Looking forward to the rest of this series.

[ahlemarkustruedsson]

sent here by let's talk religion. and have subscribed. thank you for upgrading our knowledge

[MrAnshie]

Thank you for this video. I look forward to the next one. The "many Maimonides" and "Maimonides and Mysticism"
I am always saying how every corner of Judaism cites Maimonides to support their way of life...

[jessesaranow]

Caught this one early! Excited to watch, as always 😎

[williamjmccartan]

As always Zevi thank you for continuing to share your knowledge and history of your faith.

Peace

[LatifoMudallali]

Those men are the pioneers of peace. He was the doctor of Saladin. He was humble and not arrogant at all. This was the philosopher. Mercy on Their souls. Mosa was a man of truth not the vulgarity of today...

[fusunsanac]

Inspired by your video I started reading about Maimonides. Thank you SoU 🙏❤ Loved that you give the names in Arabic too Zevi

[timetrnr]

I am currently engaging in Maimonides' thought on Agent Intellect and Propphecy in the Guide (particularly 2.32 and 2.36) for a paper on the Agent Intellect. In particular, I am addressing how Maimonides revolutionizes both Aristotelian and Jewish thought in this text, for he is addressing a pagan subject through the lens of one who believes in life eternal, and a Jewish subject through the lens of one who may or may not consider the active intellect separate from the soul. Going through these videos and learning more about the context of Maimonides' life is extremely helpful, as I must do well on this assignment, for my professor is himself a Jew and devout student of Maimonides.

[barbelgeomuc]

Thank you very much for this video!!! Would you maybe be interested in making more videos about jewish thinkers/teachers? I would be very interested. I tried to learn about them myself, but find it quite difficult: there is much information about them from an outside view, but it's pretty hard to learn about what they taught. E.g. chassidic teachers --- there are a lot of chassidic stories or brief histories of dynasties. But it seems really hard to find out what people like the Maggid of Mezrich, the Kotzker Rebbe or the Seer of Lublin taught. A lot of the books are available only in hebrew and even if there is a translation, the terminology is not that easy to understand. Eg. I read a translation of the book Tanya (from the first Lubavitcher Rebbe). I understood enough to find it really interesting, but had no clue about a lot of the terminology he uses ...

[LyndonSSmith]

Great video, thank you so much for your dedication. Lyndon S.

[SamAronow]

The Epistle to Yemen is actually quite funny, so add "insult comic" to the résumé.

[kamalmtoor]

He is smart because he mixed ideas from Jews' far-off Biblical past in with recent Sufi conceptions to develop a hybrid vision of this crucial role.
he based his usage of Sufi ideas on reading them backward into Jews' Biblical past - finding "precedent" for the Sufi inspiration in passages from the Jewish Bible! In his introduction to the second part of the Guide for the Perplexed, Maimonides claimed that he had "rediscovered" esoteric doctrines of ancient Israel, which he was then imparting to a new generation of Jews. Of course, he was really injecting Jewish lore with the innovations of the Islamic mystics. Maimonides also gently turned ideas of Jewish prayer away from his contemporary Jewish practice and towards the Sufi ideals. He raised silence in importance in the pantheon of Jewish meditation methods, based on this Sufi mystical ideal. I would call him a SUFI JEW.

[tzimtzum]

Enjoyed this video a lot. Succinct and entertaining summary!

[elizabethlibner]

Can you recommend for a novice an English translation of Guide to the Perplexed?

[ZachVanHarrisJR]

*”thank you for making this content, peace and love” ✌🏾❤️✡️🙏🏾 - MELL DUNEY 616*

[DanKaraJordan]

What a wonderful synchronicity. I just started reading the Guide for the Perplexed last night.

Is there a good English translation of the Commentary on the Mishna so that I can try to tackle that too one day?

[sandrohergic]

Halachic debates in 2100 " I disagree, youtube video of great reb Zevi says othervise."