Historical Figures Codexery

Maimonides

Sephardic Jewish rabbi, philosopher, and physician of the Middle Ages

Maimonides was a medieval Jewish scholar born in Córdoba around 1135 or 1138, whose family was exiled after the Almohad conquest in 1148.[1][2] Maimonides is counted among the most significant rabbinic authorities, and his fourteen-volume Mishneh Torah continues to be a foundational text in Jewish learning.[3] The epithet "The Great Eagle" is applied to him.[4]

Quick Facts

Father
Maimon ben Joseph
Resting place
Tomb of Maimonides
Other names
Rambam
Born
30 March or 6 April 1135, or 28 March or 4 April 1138
Birthplace
Córdoba, Almoravid dynasty (now Spain)
Died
12 December 1204 (aged 66–69)
Place of death
Fustat, Ayyubid Sultanate (now Egypt)
Children
Abraham Maimonides (son)

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Maimonides studied Torah under his father, a rabbinic judge, and developed an early interest in science and philosophy.[2][5] After the Almohads abolished dhimmi status in 1148, his family chose exile rather than conversion.[6][7] In Egypt, he helped ransom Jewish captives taken during a siege of Bilbeis by sending letters to raise funds.[8] Around 1171 he was appointed nagid of the Egyptian Jewish community, though he was replaced in 1173 and later reappointed in 1195.[9][10]

He became court physician to Saladin and the Ayyubid dynasty, having trained in medicine in Spain and Fez.[11] Maimonides died on 12 December 1204 in Fustat.[12] After residing in Fez, Acre, Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Cairo, he made his permanent home in Fustat during the period from 1168 to 1171.[1][13] According to medieval accounts, his burial took place close to the Sea of Galilee; currently, Tiberias is the location of his tomb.[12]

What the cited sources add

Robinson explains that Maimonides concluded one cannot discuss God in terms of positive attributes.[14] Robinson notes that Maimonides held that faith and reason are essential to each other for understanding God.[14] Robinson also writes that Maimonides saw anthropomorphic terms in sacred texts as allegorical, designed to ease the transition from idolatry.[14]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Maimonides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Cambridge Companion to Maimonides", Cambridge University Press, September 2005; 1138 in Stroumsa, Maimonides in His World: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker, Princeton University Press, 2009, p. 8; Sherwin B. Nuland (2008), Maimonides, Random House, p. 38 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Maimonides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Targarona, "Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World Online" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Maimonides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Marder, "The Philosopher's Plant: An Intellectual Herbarium", Columbia University Press, 11 November 2014, p. 97 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Maimonides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kraemer 2008, p. 12 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Maimonides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stroumsa, Maimonides in His World: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker, Princeton University Press, 2009, p.65 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Maimonides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: 1954 Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 18, p. 140.; "Libās", Brill Academic Publishers, 1984, p. 744 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Maimonides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: See for example: Solomon Zeitlin, "MAIMONIDES", The American Jewish Year Book, Vol. 37, pp 65 – 66. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Maimonides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cohen, Mark R. Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of Medieval Egypt. Princeton University Press, 2005 ( ), pp. 115–116 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Maimonides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Goitein, S.D. Letters of Medieval Jewish Traders, Princeton University Press, 1973 ( ), p. 208; Cohen, Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of Medieval Egypt, p. 115 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Maimonides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Baron, "A Social and Religious History of the Jews: High Middle Ages, 500–1200", Columbia University Press, 1952, p. 215; Rustow, "Sar Shalom ben Moses ha-Levi", Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, 1 October 2010 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Maimonides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Julia Bess Frank, "Moses Maimonides: rabbi or medicine", The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, 1981, p. 79–88 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Maimonides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Shalshelet haQabbalah (Venice, 1587) f. 33b, MS Guenzberg 652 f. 76a.; "Maimonides", he.chabad.org (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Wikipedia, "Maimonides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Davidson, p. 28.; Davidson, "Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works", Oxford University Press, USA, 2005; Kraemer, "Perspectives on Maimonides: Philosophical and Historical Studies", Liverpool University Press, 1991-01-01; Goitein, S.D. Letters of Medieval Jewish Traders, Princeton University Press, 1973 ( ), p. 208 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  14. Robinson, George. "Maimonides' Conception of God/" My Jewish Learning. 30 April 2018.. facts only, no text reused. myjewishlearning.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Maimonides (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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