Yeshiva University - Masmid Yearbook (New York, NY)

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M A SM I D of sciencist and saint, of the consummate ra- tionalist and the Torah-intoxicated man, of the cold lot;ician and the warm pietist. He was the rare combination of profound insight, crystal-like clearness and charm of expression. Stoic poise, incisive thinking and indomitable energy; humility and full recognition of the worth of his ideas and ideals; broad and deep humanity and boundless and self-sacrificing love for his people; high idealism and profound common sense and prac- ticability, were fused in this complete man. He arrived upon the arena of history in a period of great crisis in the life of his people. He placed all his gifts of heart and mind upon the altar of God, Israel and humanity. Complete master of the culture of the two worlds, the Jewish and the Arabic, each then in its golden age, and of all accumulated knowledge of the Torah, in all its fulness and depth, master of self-mastery and systematic genius, he became the architect who built for the ages, brought order and, like Moses, made a path in the stormy sea of the Talmud. He bridged — though but for a time — the chasm between Judaism and the best thought of the day. Rightly called the purest mono- theist, he ascended to the heaven of spirituality by the ladder of faith, supported by reason, puri- fied by spiritual insight. The works of Maimonides became new heavens, — studded with guiding stars of deep enlightened faith and morality, of love of truth and humanity, of deep faith in the ultimate destiny of man, and of a loyalty to Israel, of which there was never greater exemplar. He understood human nature at its highest and lowest, and did not close his eyes to human frailties. All-absorbing study of the Torah, con- templation of the infinite and metaphysical thought were to him the supreme goal of existence, the royal road to immortality and eternal bliss. Never- theless, cognizant of the various gradations of the human intellect and character and aware of the fact that the gift of contemplation of, and communion with, the Infinite is given to but a tew chosen souls, he counseled the average man, particularly in his later work, against the quest of God by way of reason, against delving into the mysteries of what precedes and what follows, what is above and what below, but rather to fol- low the proven road of the righteous, in his faith, shall live. He did not aim to disturb sturdy faith with foreign doctrines. He taught that the Torah and its precepts, and the concepts rooted in the soul of Universal Israel are the cornerstone of sound fruitful Jewish life ' . The heroic stature of Maimonides and his people and his people ' s boundless love for him have not caused his personaility to be lost in a cloud of legend or hero-worship, as is the case with many of the elite of the spirit in Israel. His lovable personality stands out against the can- vas of time. Maimonides is more often misunder- stood by his admirers than by his opponents. Maimonides did not proclaim the exclusive sovereignty of reason as some of his admirers of even this generation would have us think. No mere master or servant of reason, of metaphysical speculation, could become the lasting object of deep love and affection of a whole people, par- ticularly a people of spiritual bent as Israel. Maimonides sought to prove — as was vital in the exigency of his time — that the scientific and philosophic teachings of his day were in harmony with what was to him — as to all Israel of his day — the only fountain of eternal truth and life — the Torah. He aimed to prove that the Torah is a Torah of Truth, which will forever stand the test of reason. The Torah was his first and last love, notwithstanding the platonic love he confessed for Aristotle. While he raised religious speculation to a high plane, thereby widening the horizon of Jewish thought, making it more articu- late, the teachings and commands of the Torah were his chief concern. In his mind faith and philosophy met in amity from the different start- ing points, attaining the single goal — the love of God. The age of Maimonides was an age — not much

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M ASM ID Jylaiinonidcs and I he J resent ireneral if n h) I)K. 1-tl UNAKIi KlVI.I. The last words of tlif Pentatcudi — And in re- spect to all that mighty hand, and in the great, terrific deeds which Moses displayed before the eyes of all Israel — are applicable, in a figurative sense, to Maimonides, to his Code and to his great Guide. Also applicable to him are the preceding words — which the Lord had sent him to do in the land of Egypt. ' How mysterious are the ways of Providence and of Israel ' s millenial history! Egypt, the land where Israel became a nation and the people of the Book given by God to Moses, born and reared in Egypt, was also the land where the second Moses revealed himself and gave his people the Mishna Torah, the clearest and fullest exposition of the Torah in its totality. Maimonides was the diadem in the crown of the golden age of Jewish creativeness, the era in our history that bequeathed us some of our greatest permanent national treasures, — some of the things we cherish most in our national culture, — the period that has left a most indelible im- press upon the course of our history. His interpretation of Israel ' s basic beliefs has become part of our liturgy; his halakic works are still the subject of daily study in the Tor.ih- academies throughout the world. Called by his contemporaries the light our our eyes, he con- tinues to be the Light of Israel, not only bv virtue of what he has achieved, but by virtue of what he was, by his heroic moral and intellectual stature, symbol of intellectual height and spiritu.U serenity. The radiance of his personality shone upon all alike and its blessings have re.iched all succeeding ages. As with all men who ha -e helped to make his- tory, pathfinders who have been in many respects centuries ahead of their time, many were his critics and detracters. Many of his views on method and substance have been centers of fierce and protracted controversy ever since his day. Among his opponents — and there can be no doubt of the honesty and lofty motives of most of them — there were many worthy of him. But, friend or ad- versary, no one during the last thirty generations could afford to ignore, to be indifferent to, this sovereign of the spirit and monarch of the mind. In the centuries — old symphony of admiration, reverence and glowing tribute, there were — and there still are — discords of denunciation of the technique and finality of the Mishne Torah, of the codification of theological and doctrinal views at its beginning, and of the views themselves. Mai- monides is still unjustly accused of having aimed to make his Code the final authority on all matters of law and creed, and thus of tending to stifle further free discussion and arrest continued de- velopment, making the study of the Talmud unessential. As a true disciple of Hillel, Maimonides loved pe.ice and bore denunciation and even vilification with dignity, holding no resentment against his detracters. He seldom defended himself, but fought for the truth of his views. Humility, the very essence of true greatness, was to him the crown of all virtue and he laid no claim to in- fallibility. To quote his own words: I never pride myself on not making mistakes ; on the con- trary, when I discovered one, or if I am convinced of my error by others, I am ready to change any- thing in my writings, in my ways and even in my nature. But much higher than his epoch-making works. towers Maimonides, the man. He has become to succeeding generations the symbol of pure motive, of selfless quest of truth, of noble tolerance and intellectual honesty. To the House of Israel, he has ever been the symbol of the complete and per- fect Jewish personality, of the harmonious union Kiie

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M A S M I D unlike our (iwn ol Jtwisli pris( i iinun, ol di luiiu i.ilioii .mil ' ililii .iiiciii ul JuiLiisni .iiul Kijci, of biul.il h.uh.iriMii in ilic ruthless pcrscculioii ol Judaism, which led lo despair and spiritual stagna- tion within Israel. The ancient centers of Jewish life and learning, Palestine and Babylonia, were, as he graphically describes them, hovering between life and death; the old scats of learning, outside of Provence, were hut reminders of a spiritual grandeur that was no more. Maimonidcs blessed by heredity, — scion of an illustrious family claim- ing descent from the House of D.ivid, favored by environment, intellect and training, saw, like Moses, the suffering of his people and tiieir broken spirit. He considered his superior en- dowments as a grave responsibility. He set out to dedicate his vast erudition, deep insight and outstanding position to the service of his people, to help save the ship of Israel then tossing in the stormy sea of the religious fanaticism of the Cross and the Crescent, to help strengthen the faith of his people in God, in themselves, in their higher destiny, in the ultimate triumph of Israel and the Torah. He consecrated his life to strengthening their will to live, to teaching them to understand the Torah and to suffer and sacrifice for it, to bringing solace and peace to their bleeding hearts, and to protecting them against religious aberra- tions, particularly the then powerful Karaite schism, and the alluring, but dangerous, hopes of false Messiahs. Every phase of his life and ac- tivity tended to comfort his people, inspire them, teach them the truth of faith purified by reason and the fundamental verity that the test and value of spiritual knowledge lies in follo ing it. in liv- ing it. These aims Maimonides sought to achieve mainly through his halakic works and his Epistles of counsel and comfort to the near and far Jewish communities. Most of his literary efforts — as all his life — he devoted to the needs of the people at large, and only the Guide he wrote for the chosen few. Of the Guide, his philosophic Magnum Opus. 1 1 II first .systematic presentation of Jewi l) belief and Jewish hope, suffice it to say, in the words of Dr. Wolfson, that it is the most excellent de- pository of medieval philosophic lore, where one finds the most concise analysis of philosophic problems, the most complete summaries of phil- osophic opinions, the clearest definitions of terms expressed in clear quotable phrases, that the works and views of Maimonides determined the philosophic training of Spinoza and helped guide him in the formation of his own philosophy. Nor is it necessary to dwell upon the influence of Mai- monides on Albertus Magnus and Thomas Atjuinas, the greatest of Latin Scholastics, and on the lesser lights of the scholastic period, who represent the union of Aristotelianism and Chris- tian dogma. Maimonides placed reason above all other hu- m,m qualities and considered its exercise the acme of human attainment and the source of eternal life. But he also taught that moral perfection must precede intellectual perfection, and that the life of reason can flourish only in an orderly society. True wisdom is founded upon moral perfection ; they must ever go hand in hand. Moral perfection can be attained only through the study of the Torah and the faithful obser -ance of its precepts. For, according to Maimonides, the Law is not imposed upon man arbitrarily as something which is foreign to his nature, as the imposed will of God, but is based upon reason; and all its commands have a threefold purpose. It aims first at the establishment of good mutual relations among men by removing injustice and by the acquisition of moral virtues, so that the orderly life of the people of a country may con- tinue uninterruptedly and every individual may acquire his first perfection, his physical and social well-being; secondly, it aims to train us in cor- rect beliefs and to impart to us true opinions whereby we may attain the highest perfection. Maimonides makes the moral virtues, to be ac- quired by following the dictates of the Torah, a condition prerequisite to the blessing of the im- Eleier.