Tag Archives: Morocco

Rambam, In His Own Words

Rambam Monument in Cordoba, Spain

This Friday, the 20th of Tevet, is the yahrzeit of Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (1138-1204), better known as the “Rambam”, or “Maimonides”. Rambam is one of the most fascinating figures in Jewish history, and also one of the most mysterious, multi-faceted, and complex. His impact on the course of Judaism cannot be overstated. Eight hundred years later, scholars, historians, and rabbis continue to debate his true views, positions, and beliefs. Rabbi Dr. Leon Stitskin (1911-1978), philosophy professor at Yeshiva University, described the Rambam as one who “reveals the truth by stating it, and hides it by contradicting it.” (Letters of Maimonides, pg. 18) More recently, Rabbi Dr. Aaron Adler (in his Al Kanfei Nesharim) noted a whopping 749 places where the Rambam’s early work, his Commentary on the Mishnah, appears to contradict his later works! And when it comes to the Rambam’s Moreh Nevukhim, the “Guide for the Perplexed”, some rabbis were so uncomfortable with it they denied that the Rambam ever wrote it! Who exactly was the Rambam, and what did he truly believe and teach?

Physician & Philosopher

Rambam was born in Cordoba, Spain to Rabbi Maimon, a student of Rabbi Yosef ibn Migash, who was a student of the famous Rif, Rabbi Isaac Alfasi (1013-1103). When he was around 10 years old, the extremist Almohads conquered Cordoba and forced all non-Muslims to convert, die, or flee. The Rambam’s family fled to North Africa. Settling in Morocco, the Rambam became a rabbi, but also studied at the University of Fez to become a physician. Meanwhile, he was deeply immersed in Greek philosophy, and came to embrace the school of Aristotle above the others. He is well-known for his work in integrating Aristotelian philosophy with Torah and Judaism. This set the stage for others around the world to do the same, most notably Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), a Catholic theologian and saint who integrated Aristotle with Catholicism, and cited Maimonides in his works. The Rambam believed that Aristotle was the greatest Gentile of all time, and wrote in his letter to Shmuel ibn Tibbon: Continue reading →

What Does It Really Mean to Be “Sephardi”?

The Haftarah of this week’s parasha, Vayishlach, ends with these words (Ovadiah 1:20-21):

And this exiled host of the children of Israel who are among the Canaanites as far as Tzarfat, and the exile of Jerusalem which is in Sepharad shall inherit the cities of the Negev. And saviours shall ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

This verse happens to be the origin of the term “Sephardic Jew”. By the 13th century, Jews on the European continent were divided into four groups: the Ashkenazis were those in the Germanic lands, the Sephardis in the Iberian Peninsula, the Tzarfatis in France, and the “Canaanites” in Bohemia and Moravia (roughly what is today the Czech Republic). Those last two groups have been forgotten in our days. Yet, Jewish texts from that era make it clear that Tzarfati Jews were once a distinct category, as were the Canaani Jews (which in some texts appear to refer to those Jews living in all Slavic lands). These divisions were based on the verse above from this week’s Haftarah, which describes the Jewish people exiled as far as Tzarfat and Sepharad, and dwelling among distant Canaanites. (It is important to remember that in the Tanakh the word “Canaan” does not always refer to the ethnic Canaanites, but can also mean “merchant” more generally.)

Today, the Jewish world is often divided more simply among Ashkenazi and Sephardi lines. Having discussed the origins of Ashkenazi Jews in the past, we now turn to the Sephardis. However, I don’t want to focus here on the history of Sephardic Jewry. (In short: Jews arrived in Iberia at least as far back as Roman times, and began to migrate on mass after the Muslim conquest in 711.) The big question is: what makes a person “Sephardi” today, considering that Spain expelled all of its Jews in 1492—and didn’t officially rescind that decree until 1968!

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