Within the first few chapters of “Basic Principles of the Torah”, Maimonides introduces the reader to his opinion surrounding God. He states that, “the basic principle of all basic principles and the pillar of all sciences is to realize that there is a First Being who brought every existing things into being” (Twersky 43). This shows that all living beings are dire need of Him and would not be existing without Him. We cannot live our lives as we know it without the presence of God. As the creator of all things, it is important to realize that this existence stems back to this one figure. Additionally, human beings naturally try and personify God so that we may create some type of image in our head. As the text states, the Torah speaks in the language of men, and “all these expressions are adapted to the mental capacity of the majority of mankind” (Twersky 44). In reality, God has no tangible form or visible figure, but the human mind must picture some type of figure anyways.
Another important aspect of the “Basic Principles of the Torah” is that we must love and fear our God. In chapter 4, we are presented the differences between the Maaseh Merkavah and the Maaseh Bereshit. The latter is not taught in public simply because, “not everyone possesses the breadth of intellect requisite for obtaining an accurate grasp of the meaning and interpretation of all its contents” (Twersky 48). While this may be the case, it is through the process of learning and studying that humans love and yearn for God. As one’s love increases, so does the fear, “as he becomes conscious of his own lowly condition, poverty, and insignificance, and compares himself with any of the great and holy bodies” (Twersky 48). Humans love Him because they exist because of his existence, yet they fear him simultaneously for his divines status which makes any human being’s life looks miniscule compared to that of a divine figure.
In chapters 4 and 5 of Maimonides Life and Thought, we dive into the origin of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah and the impact that is has on the Jewish people. The actual cause for the creation of this text stems from the complexity of the previously implemented Talmudic literature. Maimonides concluded that, “the jewish people lacked a genuine book of laws” (Halbertal 164) and he needed to find a way to alleviate this issue. Consequently, the Mishneh Torah came to life. There are essentially two outcomes that have been produced from the Mishneh Torah. The first objective was to stabilize the field of the halakhah. By definition, Halakhah is Jewish Law that regulates the spiritual and religious observances from its people. Maimonides created the Mishneh Torah, in part to initiate a “total transformation of the structure of halakhah” (Halbertal 166). More specifically, this transformation refers to a process leading toward a more unified approach toward halakhah. The second goal of the Mishneh Torah is the need for “true and clear opinions” (Halbertal 165), which acted as a motivation factor for Maimonides when writing this text. In the end, Maimonides needed to create a text that would present the Jewish laws in a much more transparent way. It was the goal of Maimonides to change the difficulties of the text and improve its clarity so that more people may be properly educated in an easier way. He mentions, in his introduction, “that all the rules shall be accessible to young and old” (Halbertal 166). What was previously hidden behind complex understanding and deep analysis became readily available and easier to understand thanks to Maimonides.
One key distinction that Maimonides makes is the difference between moderate and radical understanding of the Mishneh Torah. The text states, “a more moderate one that sees it as an accomplished representation of the halakhah; and a more radical and daring one that sees it as halakhah itself” (Halbertal 184). In other words, a moderate view seems the Mishneh Torah as a form of representation of halakhah while the radical view seems Maimonides’ writing as the actual form of halakhah. Later on, Maimonides informs the reader that he approves of the moderate approach. In particular, “nowhere in the introduction did Maimonides argue that the earlier halakhic literature should be suppressed, and he treated his compilation as a response to a complex literary environment and a state of historical crisis” (Halbertal 190). My takeaway from this is that the radical view of understanding is far too extreme to be taken seriously. Its true purpose is to represent halakhah by attempting to clear up any confusions that were present in previous literatures, but the radical approach is more of an expunging of all previous works to make way for the newly implemented Mishneh Torah. Is it at all possible to have a radical approach and still gain a full understanding of the matter covered in Maimonides’ text?
Chapter 5 presents the analysis of an idea that is woven through other areas of Maimonides’ literature. It is clearly established that, “there is a First Being who brought every existing thing into being” (Halbertal 204). However, there is more context to the statement than what is read at first glance. Halbertal provides us with an in depth analysis of each line of the first halakhah, finally concluding that “the reader who believes in creation ex nihilo will find support for his view in the first sentence, and one who favors belief in an eternally existing world will look to the second sentence” (Halbertal 205). There are two ways of thinking here, ex nihilo and external existence, and they generate different images of the divinity (Halbertal 207). In the end, “Maimonides adopts the stance that maintains the eternity of the world” (halbertal 206). This view states that He does not meddle with creation, but is rather the first cause and the start of an ongoing chain reaction that goes on for hundreds of years. This begs the question, is it possible to achieve the same level of understanding of God and Judaism by taking either the ex nihilo or external existence approach or will they lead to different ends?
One particular aspect in Lerner’s Maimonides’ Empire of Light that I found interesting was the benefit that the Mishneh Torah instilled upon the Jewish people. For starters, “the increasing dispersion of the Jews has been accompanied by the fragmentation and decay of Jewish learning” (Lerner 30). The state of Jewish learning, and the Jewish population, was not in the best overall state at this point in time, which is why there became a need for some other form of learning and new text. As a result, the Mishneh Torah was implemented to help mend this issue by making it managable to learn and study. As Lerner states, “composing the Mishneh Torah is thus an action on behalf of the people on the verge of withering away” (Lerner 31). Maimonides’ text serves the purpose of salvaging the Jewish population from spreading itself too thin while also conserving the religious values and beliefs.