Today
Steinsaltz7:02 AMJun 25 at 7:02 AM
Two Rabbi’s who said “(Gulp) …
... I guess that’s me!”
y …
A statement can be very wrong, and very right, at the same time.
For example, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."
Shakespeare, of course, in his Twelfth Night. It’s spoken by the pompous fool Malvolio, who is so full of himself, he’s easily duped into thinking his noble employer (Olivia) is madly in love with him.
What he said wasn’t wrong. It was just wrong when he applied it to himself.
Some people really do have greatness thrust upon them. (And usually tragedy and pain are linked with it.)
Case in point? Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon. Also known either as Maimonides, or the Rambam (RMBM - the acronym of his name).
Born 1135 CE in then-Muslim-ruled Spain, he flees for his life (and faith) when Jews are given a choice between death, conversion to Islam, or exile.
Not an ideal start. He winds up in Morocco, then Israel, then Eqypt.
But he’s maddeningly smart, and well schooled in Torah by his rabbi father. He’s also successful in business, as well-Torah-schooled Jews often are. It would be easy to be wildly jealous of him if he wasn’t also so likeable.
Then tragedy hits again. The family decides to concentrate their wealth in Moshe’s brother David, who goes on a big investment trip, but drowns at sea. Moshe loses savings and cherished brother in one fell swoop. Grief-stricken, he’s barely able to function for a year.
But he hasn’t stopped being maddeningly smart.
Unlike many of his rabbinical peers, he’s not afraid to learn from ancient Greek (e.g. Aristotle) and then-modern Islamic thinkers (this was the golden age of Islamic intellectualism).
He applies their thought principles to Torah and Talmud, and quickly pivots to becoming a physician. Successfully treats a number of common ailments (pneumonia, asthma, diabetes).
Not keeping his knowledge to himself, he publishes his learning and methods. Word gets around. Before long, he’s appointed physician to the Sultan’s secretary, then the Sultan himself.
When he finally leaves the palace every day, he’s besieged by the ill, Jew and Gentile alike, and he treats them all.
And somewhere in all this … he finds time to think, and write.
Prolifically. Works on law, philosophy, logic, medicine …
If you’ve ever studied law to any extent, you’ve probably heard this line: “Better a thousand guilty people acquitted than one innocent person convicted.”
That’s the Rambam.
And he gets frustrated trying to decide legal matters. The Talmud exists, but it’s not organised around specific problems. And it’s been over a millennium since the Mishna was penned.
He realises … somebody’s got to pull all this stuff together and make it accessible.
Who’s going to do that?
(Gulp) I guess that’s me. (Rabbi Steinsaltz would have recognised that feeling.)
Which is why today we have the Mishneh Torah. One Jew’s attempt to pull together all the previous works …
… (and by all, I mean all of halakha, not only the laws that apply today, but also Temple service, kingship, purity, sacrifices, agriculture, courts, Shabbat, prayer, ethics, repentance, Torah study, forbidden foods, marriage, and society) …
… and make it easy for the average then-everyday Jew to make decisions.
Now fast forward eight centuries, and those then-everyday Jews are long gone (as is the language they used).
We’ve got 21st-Century-everyday Jews now, with 21st Century problems, experiences, habits, etc.
Who’s going to pull the Rambam’s stuff together for them?
Gulp. I guess that’s me, thought Rabbi Steinsaltz.
And it’s all done now, as Rabbi Steinsaltz’ grandson explains in this video. The Rambam translated into modern English, with the Rav’s commentary on it.
And it’s all in the Steinsaltz Daily Study App, downloadable for free.
- Rabbi Meni Even-Israel
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