Maimonides

Moses Ben Maimon was born in 1135 in Cordoba, Spain to a scholarly family. His father, a physician, Rabbi, and judge, saw to it that his son was thoroughly educated and conversant in both Hebrew and Arabic. While Maimonides was still young, his family fled Spain to avoid persecution by the Almohades, which offered Jews and Christians the choice of conversion to Islam or death. They first went to Morocco, later Palestine, and finally Egypt.

The writings and achievements of this twelfth­century Jewish sage are monumental. Maimonides was the first person to write a systematic code of all Jewish law, the Mishnah Torah; he produced one of the great philosophic statements of Judaism, The Guide to the Perplexed; published a commentary on the entire Mishna; served as physician to the sultan of Egypt; wrote numerous books on medicine; and served as leader of Cairo's Jewish community.

He also exerted a great influence on the Scholastic philosophers, especially on Albert the Great, St. Thomas, and Duns Scotus, through his Guide to the Perplexed and the philosophical introductions to sections of his commentaries on the Mishna.

His role in the history of Jewish thought is comparable to the role of Thomas Aquinas in Catholic thought. Just as Aquinas (who was influenced by Maimonides) treated with respect all great theologians and philosophers irrespective of religious differences with them, Maimonides did the same with the pagans, Christians, and Muslims, saying about them: "Accept the truth, whatever its source." Maimonides is a marvelous companion for anyone searching for truth.

Throughout most of the Jewish world, Maimonides was a hero. When he died, Egyptian Jews observed three full days of mourning, and applied to his death the biblical verse "The ark of the Lord has been taken" (I Samuel 4:11). He is buried in Tiberias, Israel.