Moses Maimonides Sparknotes

Moses Maimonides (Rambam) is considered to be one of the most influential personalities in Judaism and that is due to his many contributions to the Jewish faith which include the publication of some texts such as The Guide for the Perplexed, the commentary on the Mishnah and the Mishneh Torah. These texts impacted Jewish adherents as they assisted them in understanding their faith further, thus they were able to practice it in an era where Judaism was threatened by another dominant synoptic religion Islam, and also by the spread of classical philosophy.

The Guide for the Perplexed was written in a time when classic philosophy was increasingly separating, thus threatening many of the synoptic religions as it contradicted with their core beliefs.
Due to the Islamic influence and threat, many Jews were not able to access the Torah or read it, which resulted in many of them being distant from the Jewish faith and what it really meant and how to express it correctly. Rambam wrote his text, the Mishneh Torah, which translates to ‘The Second Law’ to help any Jewish adherent in practicing their faith properly. This work of his consisted of fourteen books and each of these books focused on different aspects of the Law. The 613 commandments were written in the Mishneh Torah as well to further indicate to the adherents how they should conduct themselves according to the Torah and its teaching. Furthermore, Rambam includes in this text the eight levels of Charity, which is a very significant act in Judaism as it helps in fulfilling the notion of Tikkun Olam. Therefore, the Mishneh Torah assisted Jewish adherents in understanding their laws and how to act in certain situations for example the fact that they need to donate 10% of their money every 3 years to achieve Tzedakah. This text is still studied today, especially the 613