Maimonides—Essential Teachings on Jewish Faith & Ethics: The Book of Knowledge & the Thirteen Principles of Faith—Annotated & Explained

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Maimonides—Essential Teachings on Jewish Faith and Ethics:

The Book of Knowledge and the Thirteen Principles of Faith—Selections Annotated and Explained

2012 Quality Paperback Edition, First Printing

Translation and annotation © 2012 by Marc D. Angel

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Angel, Marc.

Maimonides’ essential teachings on Jewish faith and ethics : the Book of Knowledge and the Thirteen Principles of Faith : selections annotated and explained / translation and annotation by Marc D. Angel.

p. cm.

Includes the texts of Maimonides’s Book of Knowledge and his Thirteen Principles of Faith in English translation.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-59473-311-6 (quality pbk. original : alk. paper) 1. Maimonides, Moses, 1135–1204. Sefer ha-mada’. 2. Maimonides, Moses, 1135–1204. 13 ‘ikre ha-emunah. 3. Judaism—Doctrines. 4. Faith (Judaism) 5. Jewish ethics. I. Maimonides, Moses, 1135–1204. Sefer ha-mada’. English. II. Maimonides, Moses, 1135–1204. 13 ‘ikre ha-emunah. English. III. Title.

BM546.A54 2011

296.1’81—dc23

2011040592

10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

Cover Design: Walter C. Bumford III, Stockton, Massachusetts, and Gloria Todt

Manufactured in the United States of America

SkyLight Paths Publishing is creating a place where people of different spiritual traditions come together for challenge and inspiration, a place where we can help each other understand the mystery that lies at the heart of our existence.

SkyLight Paths sees both believers and seekers as a community that increasingly transcends traditional boundaries of religion and denomination—people wanting to learn from each other, walking together, finding the way.®

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Tel: (802) 457-4000  Fax: (802) 457-4004

www.skylightpaths.com

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In memory of my teachers, for whom Maimonides was a living presence

Haham Dr. Solomon Gaon

Rabbi Dr. Meyer Simcha Feldblum

Rabbi Dr. Moshe Carmilly

Contents  2504.jpg

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Laws of Foundations of the Torah

Laws Relating to Moral and Ethical Character

Laws of Torah Study

Laws of Idolatry

Laws of Repentance

Thirteen Principles of Faith

Notes

Selected Bibliography

About SkyLight Paths

About Jewish Lights

Copyright

Acknowledgments  2740.jpg

I express my appreciation to Stuart M. Matlins, publisher of Jewish Lights and SkyLight Paths, for his role in the creation of the present volume. He suggested that I follow up on my book Maimonides, Spinoza and Us: Toward an Intellectually Vibrant Judaism (Jewish Lights) by preparing a translation of and commentary on Maimonides’s essential teachings on Jewish faith and ethics for people of all faiths and backgrounds. I thank the Jewish Lights and SkyLight Paths staff for their excellent work in producing this volume: Emily Wichland, vice president of Editorial and Production; Heather Pelham, book design and production coordinator, who typeset this volume; and Gloria Todt, book production assistant, who contributed to the cover design. I also thank Bryna Fischer for copyediting the text and Debra Corman for her proofreading talents.

I gladly acknowledge the work of other Maimonides scholars and translators. I have learned much from them, and they have influenced my thinking in important ways. Among those who have been most helpful to my understanding of Maimonides are Marvin Fox, David Hartman, Menachem Kellner, Shlomo Pines, Marc Shapiro, and Isadore Twersky. At the end of this book, I include a bibliography of their writings, as well as those of other scholars whose work has been valuable to me—and to so many other students of Maimonides.

I thank the members and supporters of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals (www.jewishideas.org), of which I am founder and director, for their unflinching commitment to an intellectually vibrant Judaism, much in the spirit of Maimonides. I thank the trustees and members of Congregation Shearith Israel, the historic Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of New York City (founded 1654). It has been my singular privilege to serve this congregation since 1969, currently as rabbi emeritus. My Sunday morning Rambam class has been one of my ongoing joys at Shearith Israel, and I thank our class members for many lively discussions on the ideas and ideals of Maimonides.

I owe my greatest debt of gratitude to my wonderful family, each of whom is a unique treasure and source of blessing: my beloved wife, Gilda; our children, Rabbi Hayyim and Maxine Siegel Angel, Dr. Dan and Ronda Angel Arking, and Dr. James and Elana Angel Nussbaum; and our grandchildren, Jake Isaac Nussbaum, Andrew Zak Arking, Jonathan Marc Arking, Max Joseph Nussbaum, Charles Victor Nussbaum, Jeremy Victor Arking, Dahlia Rachel Angel, and Aviva Hayya Angel.

I thank the Almighty for having brought me to this special moment. I pray that this book of Maimonides’s teachings on faith and ethics will be a source of strength, inspiration, and happiness to readers.

Introduction  3045.jpg

Moses Maimonides (1138–1204) is one of the greatest religious thinkers of all time. In Jewish tradition, he is often called the Great Eagle, the philosopher who rose to great heights and whose vision covered an extensive range. A popular saying among Jews is that From Moses [of the Torah] to Moses [Maimonides], none has arisen like Moses [Maimonides]. Indeed, it can fairly be asserted that from the days of Moses Maimonides until our own time, no Jewish thinker has had a more significant impact on Jewish religious thought than Maimonides.

Among his singular contributions to religious philosophy was his insistence that religion must be based on sound intellectual foundations. Since religion and reason both derive from God, it is impossible for them to be in ultimate conflict. Rather, religion and reason must exist in harmonious relationship and together must bring us closer to an understanding of God. Maimonides provided a method of mediating between revelation and reason that not only laid the groundwork for a rational, philosophically sophisticated Judaism, but provided an approach to biblical interpretation and philosophy that remains relevant for people of all faiths who follow a religion based on sacred text and oral interpretation. His approach allows a person to be religious without turning off his or her brain.

In this volume, I include a translation and commentary of Maimonides’s The Book of Knowledge and his Thirteen Principles of Faith. These texts reflect the essential theological and philosophical teachings of Maimonides, which he presented in a lucid form intended for the widest readership. Many of the topics discussed in these works are developed in other of Maimonides’s writings, notably in his major philosophical opus, Guide of the Perplexed. In this introduction, I will be citing passages from the Guide and other of his works to supplement material presented in the text of the volume itself. This will give you, the reader, a fuller perspective on the thinking of Maimonides and will enrich your understanding of the ideas presented in The Book of Knowledge and the Thirteen Principles of Faith.

A Medieval Jewish Philosopher: Lessons for Modern Times

Serious thinkers have pondered the state of religion in the modern period. Their discussions reflect both the turmoil and the malaise that often confront religious people of our times. American sociologist Peter Berger has written extensively about spiritual homelessness, the breakdown in traditional faith, the feeling of deracination felt by so many moderns.¹ Well-known psychologist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl has referred to the existential vacuum that leaves people feeling lost and spiritually empty.² British philosopher and historian Isaiah Berlin has lamented the growing authoritarianism and intolerance within modern religious life and has argued for a more respectful pluralism.³ German-American Jewish social psychologist and philosopher Erich Fromm has criticized the flight from reason—on the part of some—where superstition and cults have come to replace enlightened religion.⁴ Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the most influential Orthodox Jewish thinker of the twentieth century, has characterized the dilemma of religious people in the significant title of one of his seminal lectures: The Lonely Man of Faith.⁵

When we read of the role of religion in contemporary life, we are confronted with such topics as extremism, fanaticism, terrorism, superstition, authoritarianism, obscurantism, and hypocrisy. We are also faced with such phenomena as assimilation and secularization, and an ultraliberalism that robs religion of its core beliefs and observances.

Given the spiritual needs of our times, today’s religious vision needs to be grand and compelling, intellectually rigorous and emotionally sound. It needs to rise far above popular religious discourse, which often seems parochial, sterile, and even irrational.

Moses Maimonides, the impressive thinker and teacher who lived nearly nine hundred years ago, is precisely the one who can point us in a positive spiritual direction. This medieval man was so advanced in his thinking that he is, in many respects, far more progressive than moderns. When we read his writings and contemplate his teachings, we find ourselves in the presence of one of the great religious thinkers of all time.

Maimonides’s Beginnings

Moses Maimonides, popularly known in rabbinic circles by the acronym Rambam (Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon), was born in Cordoba, Spain, where his father, Maimon, was a learned and respected rabbi. In 1148, Cordoba was conquered by a fanatical Muslim sect, the Almohads, who gave Jews the choice of converting to Islam or leaving the city. Thus, Maimonides’s family began a period of wandering, arriving in the city of Fez in Morocco in 1160. In 1165, the family settled in Fostat, the Old City of Cairo. In 1177, Maimonides was appointed head of the Jewish community in Fostat; and in 1185, he was appointed court physician to Saladin’s vizier, al-Fadil.

Given the vagaries of his life’s travels and travails, it is a wonder that he had the time and mental focus to become Judaism’s preeminent philosopher, Talmudic scholar, legal codifier, and spiritual leader. Maimonides’s prodigious intellectual gifts were such that he was a premier rabbinic scholar and at the same time a premier philosopher and medical doctor.

Maimonides’s Writings: Laying the Foundations for the Study of Jewish Ethics and Law

At age twenty-three, he began to compose a commentary on the Mishnah, the Talmudic collection of laws on all aspects of Judaism. Since the Mishnah is the foundation stone of Jewish law, Maimonides felt the need to study it thoroughly, to explain it to students of Jewish law, and to incorporate the Talmudic discussions on each passage. Through this systematic and comprehensive process, he wished to make the Mishnah accessible to students of Talmud and Jewish law. Written in Arabic and later translated into Hebrew, this commentary was completed after ten years. Aside from offering lucid explanations of the Mishnah’s texts, the commentary includes three lengthy essays. In his introduction to the commentary, Maimonides discusses the nature of the Oral Torah—the body of oral tradition that accompanied the Written Torah—and the development of Jewish law, known as halakhah. The commentary also includes his introduction to chapter 10 of the tractate Sanhedrin (Perek Helek), which deals with basic principles of Jewish faith and which concludes with his Thirteen Principles of Faith. In Shemonah Perakim (literally, Eight Chapters), his introduction to the Mishnah tractate Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), he provides a lengthy discussion of the foundations of Jewish ethics.

Upon completion of the commentary on the Mishnah, Maimonides began work on the Mishneh Torah, his classic code of Jewish law. This monumental project, which also took him ten years to complete, is an unparalleled achievement in the history of Jewish law. Prior to Maimonides’s work, there was no systematic and comprehensive compendium of the legal rulings of the Talmud. Since the Talmudic literature is so vast, and since discussions of topics are spread throughout its many tomes, it was nearly impossible for anyone—except elite scholars—to know what the actual law required. While there were some short collections of laws composed during the few centuries before Maimonides, and while Rabbi Yitzhak Alfasi (1013–1103) had laid the foundation for the study of the legal rulings of the Talmud, there was nothing that remotely covered the entire scope of Jewish law in a clear and accessible way as did the Mishneh Torah. This work revolutionized the study of Jewish law. Because of its clarity and authoritative presentation, it won many advocates in the rabbinic world. On the other hand, it also met with great resistance from scholars who thought the Mishneh Torah would undermine the need for Talmudic study. They also resented Maimonides’s arrogating to himself the right to make definitive legal rulings in all areas of halakhah. In spite of the opposition, though, the Mishneh Torah became a foundational classic of Jewish law, and no rabbi of subsequent generations could ignore the rulings of Maimonides.

In 1176,