Spring Class with Marc Ashley
“From Moses to Moses, There Arose None Like Moses”:
Was Maimonides the Greatest Jew of All Time – or a Heretic?
Sunday, April 27 at 10:00 am; Sunday, May 4 at 10:00 am;
Tuesday, May 13 at 7:00 pm; Sunday, May 18 at 7:00 pm
The tombstone epitaph of Maimonides (1138–1204) declares him to be the greatest post-Mosaic Jew, a title Rambam (also known as “the Great Eagle”) may certainly deserve. There almost surely has been no more well-rounded and accomplished Jew than Maimonides, who in his highly productive lifetime reached the greatest heights in diverse roles as authoritative Talmudic scholar, expert philosopher, widely consulted physician, preeminent astronomer, and influential communal leader. The impact of Maimonides’ systemic rationalist thought on the Jewish world in the last 800+ years has been prodigious and permanent.
Yet despite his massive achievements and status, Maimonides was beset by controversy during his lifetime and engendered fierce opposition in ensuing centuries. Competing excommunication bans, and even the distressing burning of his books by Christian authorities in France in the 1230s, followed in the wake of Maimonides’ ever-spreading influence.
But why was Maimonides so controversial? Was he indeed one of the most impressive and impactful Jews in history – or, rather, an insidious heretic?
Please join Marc, now in his 26th year of teaching classes at Or Zarua, as we explore pivotal issues in Jewish intellectual history. Maimonides’ compelling ideas, and the recurring strident controversies that attended them, encompass foundational topics such as what a Jew must believe; the interplay of reason and revelation; the true nature of God and monotheism; divine providence and God’s role in history; efficacy of prayer; physical resurrection of the dead; messianic era; reality of miracles and angels; scriptural allegory; and the proper curriculum of Torah studies.
Maimonides’ halakhic, philosophical and theological writings proved to be both highly inspirational and provocative across the wide spectrum of Jewish thought. Indeed, through contemporary times, Maimonides’ authority has been so pervasive that successive Jewish thinkers have sought to refashion his teachings in their own image. As a modern scholar quipped, among all those who have endorsed, opposed or recast Rambam’s thought, there exist “my-monides, your-monides, and their-monides.”
What is beyond controversy is that Maimonides’ wide-ranging thought and towering presence should be considered and appreciated. Please join us for an intriguing encounter with arguably the greatest figure in Jewish history.