Selected Pieces - Nonfiction

by Tzur Shalit, Texas

Maimonides, also known as Rambam, was a revolutionary figure in the 12th century. He wrote his first book at sixteen and never stopped writing. He wrote about philosophy, spirituality, morality, medicine, pharmacology, and psychotherapy. The life of a Jew was difficult at the time. He was expelled time and time again, and yet he stayed true to his intellectual pursuits. He remained a leader in whatever community he was in, not backing down when times were difficult.

Well into adulthood, his brother, whom he was relying on for income, passed away. This led Maimonides to put his medical talents to practice, and he “rose to become physician to the Grand Vizier of Cairo, and then to the Sultan himself” (Frank). While being a physician to the Sultan of Egypt, Maimonides still continued his study. Thanks to his talents, Rambam earned the name of the great eagle (Mizrahi). He shows an example of true intellectual freedom: not giving up when given all of the reasons to do so. His prodigious rigor is an example of what true education comes to be, but more impressive than his achievements, Maimonides’s ideas have been everlasting in the world of meticulous debate: philosophy.

Maimonides was so devoutly engaged in intellectualism because, for him, the fourth and highest level of perfection that one can reach in their relationship to the divine creator is only through knowledge and intellect (Weiss). For Maimonides, intellectual perfection can only be achieved after three lower perfections: perfection of possessions, bodily perfection, and moral perfection (Weiss). It is important to note that Maimonides did not believe that an individual can be perfect, “for there is not anybody without shortcomings” (Kottek). No human being is perfect; however, everyone should aim at being perfect as the ultimate goal, despite the shortcomings and pitfalls that one will inevitably fall into (Kottek). For Maimonides, one aims at being perfect in the four categories. Then, he will fall down, and after that, he will start from the lowest perfection and get back up to a level of holiness.

The lowest perfection in relationship with God is the perfection of possessions. It is simply the necessities required for survival. It is the food that one eats, the water that one drinks, or the social interaction needed by humans. This is imperative for Maimonides: that one first be satisfied with their current measure of survival before he is able to start perfecting their body. This level of perfection is the lowest because it is primary, but serves the least importance out of the four levels. People attempt to sustain this level the majority of their lives. Simply put, the first step to building perfection in one’s relationship with God is to survive. 

The next two levels are fundamentally linked to each other. Once the individual can survive, the following step of perfection is that of the body. Physical exercise and proper diet are what is contained within this level. A healthy strong physical life is required to be able to achieve perfection in the mental and intellectual life. After the body is perfected, the individual becomes a proper vessel for morality to flow through. This step of perfection, like all of the others, is endless. Constant reevaluation of the self’s morality is required to pass. Finally, after all three of these steps are completed, the once-perfect individual who succumbed to his pitfalls is able to get back to the level of intellectual perfection. 

A major part of intellectual perfection for Maimonides was philosophy. Maimonides’s philosophy was based on contradiction. He believed that the truth of philosophy must be hidden to protect those that would misunderstand it to their own demise. Due to this, for every opinion in his primary philosophical work, The Guide for the Perplexed, there is a contrary opinion. The Guide is not in order. It is, at first glance, a jumbled mess of philosophical contradiction. Maimonides intended this to be so. In Yair Lorberbaum’s work On Contradictions, Rationality, Dialectics, and Esotericism in Maimonides’s Guide of the Perplexed, he argues that: 

The contradictions in the Guide are not to be explained away lightly as tangential or inconsequential expressions, and they are certainly not to be ignored. On the contrary, it is the duty of every interpreter of the Guide to search them out and reveal them, to decide in each case which of the two contradictory views was thought by Maimonides to be the true one and which he employed in order to conceal the truth (Lorberbaum).

Because of this phenomenon, Maimonides’s philosophical works are difficult to understand. Each is like a guide for an individual who is perplexed enough to attempt them.

Maimonides is a revolutionary figure because he chose, in every situation he was in, to prioritize learning. He never became stationary in his learning, always seeking to explore a topic further. Maimonides became a medical, spiritual, and intellectual leader in his community, wherever that was. From a young age, he learned and taught others to love learning for the sake of learning. Maimonides believed that learning was not reserved for just nobility. He believed in intellectual honesty and accepting fundamental truths, as Maimonides taught in the introduction of his work Eight Chapters, “one should accept the truth from whatever source it proceeds” (Gorfinkle).

By understanding his example, we can choose to become leaders in the modern era. It is up to each individual to understand their situation and where they can help most, from an educated background. To be an intellectual leader is at the height of Judaism. While we can never be perfect, we can always evaluate and make sure that we are living up to our values at every step. That is what we can learn from Maimonides: the value of intellectualism throughout a life of persecution.  

Works Cited

Frank, Julia Bess. “Moses Maimonides: Rabbi of Medicine.” Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, Volume 54(1);  Jan-Feb 1981, pp. 79–88, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2595894/pdf/yjbm00112-0079.pdf

Gorfinkle, Joseph I. The Eight Chapters of Maimonides on Ethics. (Shemonah Peraḳim.) A Psychological and Ethical Treatise. Edited, Annotated, and Translated with an Introduction by Joseph I. Gorfinkle. 

Kottek, Samuel S. “Toward Becoming an Accomplished Physician: Maimonides versus Galen.” Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 31 Oct. 2011, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3678808/. 

Lorberbaum, Yair. “On Contradictions, Rationality, Dialectics, and Esotericism in Maimonides’s 

‘Guide of the Perplexed.’” The Review of Metaphysics, vol. 55, no. 4, 2002, pp. 711–50. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/20131785. 

Mizrahi, Avshalom. “The Soul and the Body in the Philosophy of the Rambam.” Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 30 Apr. 2011, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3678934/. 

Weiss, Roslyn. "Maimonides on perfecting perfection." Harvard Theological Review, vol. 110, no. 3, July 2017, pp. 339+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A500260568/AONE?u=txshracd2487&sid=googleScholar&xid=8aa8c15f