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Full Description
Many books on Maimonides have been written and
still more will appear. Few present Maimonides, as Menachem Kellner does
against the actual religious background that informed his many innovative and
influential choices. He not only analyses the thought of the great religious
thinker but contextualizes it in terms of the 'proto-kabbalistic' Judaism that
preceded him. Kellner shows how the Judaism that Maimonides knew had come to
conceptualize the world as an enchanted universe, governed by occult
affinities. He shows why Maimonides rejected this and how he went about doing
it. Kellner argues that Maimonides' attempted reformation failed, the clearest
proof of that being the success of the kabbalistic counter-reformation which
his writings provoked.
Kellner shows
how Maimonides rethought Judaism in different ways. It is in highlighting this
and identifying Maimonides as a religious reformer that this book makes its key
contribution. Maimonides created a new Judaism, 'disenchanted', depersonalized,
and challenging; a religion that is at the same time elitist and universalist.
Kellner's
analysis also shows the deep configuration of Judaism in a new light. If, as
Moshe Idel says in his Foreword, Maimonides was able to 'reform so many aspects
of rabbinic Judaism single-handedly, to enrich it by importing such
dramatically different concepts, it shows that the profound structures of this
religion are flexible enough to allow the emergence and success of astonishing
reforms. The fact that, great as Maimonides was, he did not overcome the
traditional forms of proto-kabbalism shows that the dynamic of religion is much
more complex than subscribing to authorities, however widely accepted.'
Contents
Foreword by Moshe Idel
Preface
Acknowledgements
Note on Transliteration and Conventions Used in the Text
1 Maimonides' Critique of the Jewish Culture of His Day
Introduction * The Judaism Maimonides Opposed * The Philospphical Basis of Maimonides' Opposition * Esotericism and Elitism * Maimonides' Failure * Elements of Proto-Kabbalah * Maimonides' Opposition to the World of Proto-Kabbalah * Excursus: Terminology
2 The Institutional Character of Halakhah
Introduction * Two Opposing Views * Maimonides' View * Maimonides' Motivation * Mistakes and Errors in Halakhah / Science / Dogma * Error in 'Science' * Halakhah as Instrumental * Halakhah and Theology * God and Abraham: Who Chose Whom?
3 Holiness
Introduction * A Glance at the Biblical Evidence * Maimonides on the Nature of Holiness in General * Holy Persons * The People of Israel * The Sanctity of the Land of Israel and of Jerusalem * Holy Things: Torah, Tefilin, Mezuzot * Holy Times
4 Ritual Purity and Impurity
Introduction: Two Ancient Views on Ritual Purity and Impurity * Judah Halevi on Ritual Purity and Impurity * Maimonides on Ritual Purity and Impurity * Maimonides on the Sacrifical Cult and the Laws of Ritual Purity and Impurity * Maimonides on the Moral Significance of the Laws of Ritual Purity and Impurity * Critiques of Maimonides' Account of the Sacrifices
5 The Hebrew Language
Introduction * Judah Halevi on the Hebrew Language * Maimonides on the Hebrew Language * Why Did Maimonides Adopt His Position? * Nahmanides' Critique
6 Kavod, Shekhinah, and Created Light
Introduction * Shekhinah, Kavod, and Created Light in Rabbinic Texts * Sa'adiah Gaon * Judah Halevi * Maimonides on Kavod in the Guide of the Perplexed * Maimonides on Shekhinah in the Guide of the Perplexed * Maimonides on Created Light in the Guide of the Perplexed * Shekhinah and Kavod in Mishneh torah and Commentary on the Mishnah
7 Jews and Non-Jews
Introduction * Theory of the Acquired Intellect * Jews and Non-Jews * Digression: Which of the Thirteen Principles Must Actually Be Accepted to Achieve a Share in the World to Come? * Who is an 'Israelite'? * Wise Non-Jews and the World to Come * Was Maimonides Truly Universalist?
8 Angels
Introduction * Angels in Rabbinic Thought * Angels in Piyutim * Angels in Heikhalot Literature * Sa'adiah Gaon and Judah Halevi on Angels * Maimonides on Angels
Afterword: Contemporary Resistance to the Maimonidean Reform
Glossary
Index of Citations from Moses Maimonides and Judah Halevi
Bibliography
General Index
