History of the Jews, Vol. 3 (of 6)

by Heinrich Graetz

In the midst of his energetic activity in communal affairs, practising as a physician, and devoting himself to the constant study of philosophy and science, Maimuni completed his second great work (8 Kislev—7 November, 1180), his epoch-making "Mishne-Torah," or Religious Code. If, as he states, he labored at it continuously for ten successive years, the time stands in no relation to the magnitude of the performance. It is impossible to give the uninitiated an idea of this gigantic work, in which he collected the most remote things from the vast mine of the Talmud, extracting the fine metal from the dross, classifying all details under their appropriate heads, showing how the Talmud was based on the Bible, bringing its details under general rules, combining apparently unconnected parts into one organized whole, and cementing it into a work of art. He justly laid special emphasis, in the Mishne-Torah, on the necessity of skilful grouping, the difficulties of which can be estimated only by a specialist deeply versed in the subject. The Talmud resembles a Dædalian maze, in which one can scarcely find his way even with Ariadne's thread, but Maimuni designed a well-contrived ground-plan, with wings, halls, apartments, chambers, and closets, through which a stranger might easily pass without a guide, and thereby obtain a survey of all that is contained in the Talmud. Only a mind accustomed to think clearly and systematically, and filled with the genius of order, could have planned and built a structure like this.

Apart from the technical excellences, and the incomparably well proportioned architecture, the work had, as far as the contents are concerned, a most important influence on the development of Jewish history. All the various lines which his predecessors had partially traced out on the ground of Judaism, Maimuni united in the greatest harmony. Nothing therein is given undue prominence, and nothing is neglected. The philosophical, the ethical and the ceremonial sides, and, so to speak, the emotional side of Judaism which the aspiration for a Messianic period of redemption expresses, are treated in this work as of equal worth and prominence. Maimuni united the divergent roads on which Judaism had been led, and made them meet together in one point. He worked out to final perfection all the efforts which, since Saadiah had tried to give a philosophical basis to Judaism, and to make clear its import, had been embodied in writing. His work was the necessary center of gravity of the tremendous intellectual structure of three centuries.

It may almost be said that Maimuni created a new Talmud. The old elements are certainly there; we know their source, their occurrence, and their original application, but under his treatment, grouping, and elaboration they assume a new shape. The rust is removed, the confusing non-essential matter is taken out, and everything appears newly cast, polished, fresh, and original. The Mishna, the groundwork of the Talmud, begins with the question, "At what time is the Shema to be said in the evening?" and concludes with a discussion as to what things are unclean according to Levitical law. Maimuni, on the other hand, thus commences his Talmudical Code, "The foundation and pillar of all wisdom is to recognize that there is an original Being, who called all creatures into existence," and ends with the words, "The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." This work breathes the spirit of true wisdom, calm reflection, and deep morality. Maimuni, so to speak, talmudized Philosophy, and philosophized the Talmud. He admitted philosophy into his religious Code, and conceded it a place of equal importance with the Halacha. From the time of Philo till Abraham Ibn-Daud, philosophy had always been treated as something secondary, which had nothing to do with practical Judaism, as it is daily and hourly practised. Maimuni, on the other hand, introduced it into the holiest place in Judaism, and as it were gave Aristotle a place next to the doctors of the Law. A great portion of the first book of his work (Sepher Madda) is of a philosophical character. The object of his work was to simplify the knowledge of the whole of Judaism, both Biblical and Talmudical, which in his judgment were of equal value. He wanted to clear up the diffuseness and obscurity, which arise from Talmudical idiom, the discussions, the incomplete explanations of the Geonim, and render the study of the Talmud so difficult; to illumine chaos, and put confusion into order. The rabbi who had to determine questions of a religious or legal character, the pious man who desired to discharge his religious duty of knowing the Law, the student who desired to obtain knowledge of the Talmud, had no more need to struggle through the thorny underbrush of Halachic discussions, but in addition to Holy Writ had simply to refer to the Code of the Mishne-Torah, in order to acquire complete information. He hinted rather broadly that his work was intended to render the Talmud less necessary, if not to supersede it. For this reason he wrote it in the neo-Hebrew language (Mishna idiom), which was easily understood, so as to make it accessible to all people, and thus spread the knowledge of the Law, and the principles of Judaism generally. It is true that he came into collision with the views of his rabbinical contemporaries, who expected the Talmud to be treated with the same respect as the Holy Scriptures, wherein no word is superfluous, and which, therefore, must be studied in the original text.

In consistently carrying out his principle that all details should be brought under comprehensive heads, and that nothing should be admitted without conclusive grounds, Maimuni could not help deviating occasionally in his decisions from the Talmudical method of determining the case, and striking out into a path peculiar to himself. In one particular point he stepped beyond the bounds of the Talmud. The Talmud treats as Biblical many decisions which were inferred from verses of Scripture by an application of the accepted rules of interpretation. Maimuni, however, advanced the principle that only those laws were Biblical which the Talmud distinctly claimed to be so without recording any difference of opinion on the subject.

In this bold view Maimuni was manifestly influenced by the objection of the Karaites against the Oral Law. Without being himself clearly aware of it, he conceded that a genuine tradition could not be amenable to differences of opinion, and must never, during its transmission from generation to generation, be exposed to doubt.

Although Maimuni's theory, consistently followed out, is calculated to undermine Talmudical Judaism, that Judaism, nevertheless, was in practice held by him in such estimation that he regarded nothing to be of higher importance. The Talmudical sages were, in his eyes, authorities who occupied a position only a step lower than the prophets. He regarded them as ideals, to emulate whom would lead to a virtuous, religious, and perfect life. The legal decisions proceeding from them, whether mandatory or prohibitory, could be abrogated only under circumstances specified in the Talmud itself. In practice, accordingly, it made no difference whether a law was Biblical or rabbinical; both were to be observed with equal conscientiousness.

Maimuni, through his religious Code, gave rabbinical Judaism a strong hold, and on the other hand he helped to ossify it. Much in the Talmud that was still unsettled and open to explanation he crystallized into unchangeable law. As he introduced into Judaism articles of belief, which were to limit thought by thought, so by his codified determinations of the laws, he robbed it of its mobility. Without considering the condition of the times in which the Talmudical decisions had arisen, he laid them down as binding for all times and circumstances. In this respect he was much stricter than the Tossafist school, who took the sting out of a too burdensome law by proving after elaborate examination that it was not applicable to changed circumstances and times. If Maimuni's Code had acquired absolute supremacy, as it at first seemed likely to do, and had dislodged the Talmud from the schools, from the hands of the religious authorities, and from the Jewish courts of law, Talmudical Judaism would have succumbed to petrifaction, notwithstanding the rich thought and the scientific treatment which Maimuni bestowed on it.

However, as soon as the Jews obtained possession of Maimuni's Code, which was accessible to them by reason of its simple language and arrangement, they began to see clearly its high importance. In Spain, it was said, every one copied it for himself; the Jewish mind was absorbed in it, young and old gathered together in order to master its contents. There were now many doctors of the Law who could pass an original opinion on any controversial point of law, and check the decision of the judge. And as in Spain, so it was in all countries, even in the East, where the study of the Talmud was more energetically pursued. The reverence for the great master increased every day, especially when it became known that his private life corresponded to the ideal which he had delineated of a Jewish sage. His people lavished on him the most enthusiastic of praises. "The only one of his time," "The banner of the rabbis," "The enlightener of the eyes of Israel," were modest titles. It required all Maimuni's moral force not to be overpowered by the incense burned before him. Maimuni's name rang from Spain to India, and from the sources of the Euphrates and the Tigris to southern Arabia, and eclipsed all contemporary celebrities. The most learned men subordinated themselves to his judgment, and solicited his instruction in the most humble manner; he was regarded as chief authority for the whole Jewish world, which revered him as its noblest representative.

He did not escape the attack of petty opponents, who were jealous of his towering greatness, insignificant rabbis, who, being superficially familiar with the text of the Talmud, thought themselves in possession of all wisdom, and were unpleasantly awakened from their dream by Maimuni's work. In Cairo itself some Talmudists would not deign to bestow a glance on the Code, lest it might be said that they had learnt something out of it. Others argued that the College of Bagdad was the only seat of Talmudical knowledge, and that he who had not studied in this school could not be recognized as thoroughly initiated, and, consequently, Maimuni's decisions did not deserve unconditional acceptance. Such little minds persuaded themselves that it lay in their power to compose a like or even a better work on all the laws of Judaism. The head of this petty opposition was Samuel ben Ali, of Bagdad, who, on his richly embellished Gaonate throne, surrounded by his slaves armed with scourges, would not acknowledge any one his equal, much less his superior. Maimonides opposed a contemptuous silence to detractors of this class. However, he also had honorable adversaries, who feeling that Maimuni's conception of Talmudical Judaism was not flesh of their flesh, scented heresy in the Code, and perceived danger therein to the practice of the religion. But wherein the strange and inconsistent elements lay only the more learned understood; the simple, on the other hand, lit upon secondary and quite unessential points, and excited themselves about them, as if the fundamental principles of the religion were in danger.

Thus, in Alexandria, after the publication of Maimuni's work, there broke out against it a popular insurrection, because it was taught therein that bathing before prayer, which the Eastern Jews had adopted from their Mahometan neighbors, was not essential. Members of the congregation combined, and threatened to lay information against it before the Mahometan authorities, on the ground that those who had adopted Maimuni's Code as law wished to introduce innovations into the religion.