Moses Maimonides Research Paper

Moses Maimonides, aka Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (RaMBaM) was one of the most important figures within the Jewish faith and one of the greatest scholars of his time. He came from an influential family of scholars and was influenced by jewish, islamic and ancient greek culture as well as his brothers passing, which guided the direction of his writings, also after the passing of his brother, he began to study medicine. His family was conflicted with a decision to stay in their hometown and die as martys or emigrate and search for safety, consequently they made a decision to flee from Spain when Moses was 13 due to hostile Muslim invaders. Moses had undertaken several professions such as: Talmudist, a halachist, physicist, theologist, philosophist
The purpose of the codification was to allow easier access to the text as all the laws stated in the Torah were gather and organised into topics, theme and ideas, such as prayer and worship, family law, dietary laws, etc… Along with making the halachah more accessible to the Jews, as the Jewish adherence could come to a particular issue, it also allowed their faith to be lived out. No one has purposefully written a book in public, so Moses was the first to suggest this. Within this written work, Moses compiled 13 regulations which he deemed to be the most important rules for Jews to follow, they are know as the “13 Articles of Faith”, which Moses refers to as the “fundamental truths of our religion and its very foundation.” His aim for publishing his works were to guide the jews in the right direction by providing them with behavioural guidelines. His extraordinary knowledge and understanding of religion were transferred into books which were quickly accepted by society, due to the fact that he came from an influential family of scholars who were deeply respected and looked up to in his society. provide greater understanding for the
This text is also recognised as the “Gemara”, a component of the Torah, commentaries on the Mishnah. The Talmud was a very difficult text to understand, so these commentaries explained the Mishnah; Oral tradition of jewish laws, also Maimonides felt the need to provide Jews with a philosophical basis of their understanding of Jewish faith, so he wrote the commentaries. This literary work was written in a clear, concise and unambiguous style which made it understandable to everyone including the non-specialists. His commentaries revealed ways in which the Jews could resolve their own issues or overall, they could prevent conflicts from arising if they followed the laws provided within the Mishnah.

The third book written by Moses Maimonides was the “Guide for the perplexed”. The purpose for this text was to reconcile philosophy with theology, allowing jews to perceive their faith with rational views. This not only strengthen their faith but it allowed them to study in academic fields. Guide for the perplexed was written for the educated, but the confused, hence Moses