Nachmanides

Moses ben Nachman, known as Nachmanides, the Ramban, and by the Catalan name Bonastruc ça Porta, was a major Jewish figure of the medieval period. Born in 1194 in Girona, Catalonia, where he was raised and studied, he worked as a rabbi, philosopher, physician, kabbalist, and biblical commentator. He is also recognized for helping reestablish the Jewish community in Jerusalem after the Crusaders destroyed it in 1099.

His name "Nachmanides" comes from a Greek-influenced form meaning "son of Nahman." The acronym Ramban stands for "Our Rabbi Moses son of Nahman." His Catalan nickname, Bonastruc ça Porta, translates to "Mazel Tov near the Gate."

Nachmanides was a descendant of Isaac ben Reuben of Barcelona and a cousin of Jonah Gerondi. His Talmud teachers included Judah ben Yakar and Nathan ben Meïr of Trinquetaille, and he reportedly studied Kabbalah under Azriel of Gerona, a student of Isaac the Blind. He also studied medicine, according to the responsa of Shlomo ibn Aderet. By age sixteen, he had begun writing on Jewish law and gained a reputation as a learned scholar. In his work *Milhamot Hashem* (Wars of the Lord), he defended the rulings of Alfasi against criticisms from Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona. This writing shows a conservative streak that marked his later works: deep respect for earlier authorities.

For Nachmanides, the wisdom of the rabbis of the Mishnah, Talmud, and Geonim was beyond question. He wrote that we bow before them and submit to their words even when their reasoning is unclear. This stance may have come from piety or the influence of northern French Jewish thought. It may also have been a reaction to the growing acceptance of Greco-Arabic philosophy among Spanish and Provençal Jews, especially after Maimonides' *Guide for the Perplexed*. That work encouraged allegorical readings of the Bible and downplayed miracles. Nachmanides pushed back hard, even forbidding questioning the words of the Geonim's direct disciples.

Around 1238, Solomon ben Abraham of Montpellier, who had been excommunicated by Maimonides' supporters, asked Nachmanides for help. Nachmanides wrote a letter to the communities of Aragon, Navarre, and Castile, harshly rebuking Solomon's opponents. But his deep respect for Maimonides—who was 58 when Nachmanides was born—and his gentle nature kept him from joining the anti-Maimonist party. Instead, he tried to be a peacemaker. In a letter to French rabbis, he praised Maimonides' *Mishneh Torah* for being strict in Jewish law, which Nachmanides saw as positive. He argued that the *Guide for the Perplexed* was meant not for the faithful but for those misled by Aristotle and Galen. (Modern scholars do not generally agree with this reading.) He asked why the community would denounce the *Guide* as heretical one day and then back away. To reconcile both sides, he proposed lifting the ban on the philosophical parts of Maimonides' legal code but keeping and strengthening the ban on public study of the *Guide* and on those who rejected literal biblical interpretation. Because three different versions of his letter exist, the exact terms of his proposal are debated. Neither party accepted his compromise.

The book *Iggeret ha-Kodesh* (The Holy Epistle), on marriage, holiness, and sex, was long attributed to Nachmanides as a wedding gift for his son. Modern scholars, however, think it was written by someone else, possibly Rabbi Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla. In it, the author criticizes Maimonides for calling human sexuality a disgrace. The author argues that the body and all its functions are God's work and therefore holy, so normal sexual impulses and acts are not objectionable.

In his work *Torat ha-Adam*, which covers mourning rites and burial customs, Nachmanides sharply criticizes certain writers on these topics.