To meet me, Thou wast ready.
In the wonders of Thy might
And in Thy holiness I have beheld Thee.
Who is there that should not fear Thee?
The yoke of Thy kingdom is the yoke of all.
Who is there that should not call upon Thee?
Thou givest unto all their food.’
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE GREATEST OF THE FIXED STARS.
MAIMONIDES. (1135–1204.)
1. Early Days in Spain.—At Cordova, in Spain, on March 30, 1135, there was born, in the family of a certain Rabbi Maimon, a little boy, who was named Moses. The mother died soon after the baby came, and so, in very early days, the little Moses did not get quite his fair share of petting. And soon his father married again, and besides some older brothers and sisters, there were presently several younger ones, to claim the new mother’s care, and between them all Moses seems to have been, at first, just a little neglected and misunderstood. It is possible that his own mother, if she had lived, would have found him somewhat slow and sensitive, for other folks, more hastily judging, pronounced him to be a rather sulky and stupid little boy. Among the family circle, in his childhood, Moses ben Maimon held somewhat the position of Hans Andersen’s Ugly Duckling, and like this famous little farmyard hero, he was fated, as he grew up, to astonish them all. His capabilities were soon recognised by his teachers in the schools, where, as we have seen, the Law and the Talmud were the text-books. The study of these included a wide range of subjects, but the education of Moses ben Maimon was not gained only from books. He had in his youth the advantages which extended travel confers, and not travelling of thesort which has idleness for its motive and pleasure for its aim, but journeying undertaken from a cause, and with an object, which must have greatly roused the enthusiasm of an intelligent and high-minded boy. Cordova, his native place, had been, for the four centuries during which the Ommeyade kaliphs ruled in Spain, the centre of civilisation in Europe. In 1148, when Moses ben Maimon was a boy of thirteen, Cordova was taken by the Almohades, and under their fierce and bigoted government an era of persecution set in for Spanish Jews and Christians. The Almohades gave only the choice of ‘death or exile’ to such of their subjects as would not be converted to the faith of Islam. Some, hard pressed, took upon themselves the disguise of an alien religion, and, loyal in secret, and so far as circumstances permitted, to their own faith, remained as professed Mahomedans in their old homes. Others were brave enough to follow truth at all costs, and amongst those who emigrated with this object, were Rabbi Maimon and his family.