#Rambam

[hyperpotamianarch]

I'm going to take Rambam/Ibn Ezra, but not because of what you said but because I'm going to roast you for mistakes. We'll see if I can do so in rhymes.

Moshe wrote a guide For all the perplexed; In philosophy, that is, Dummies be expelled!

Rashi was the first Of Torah commentors Did not steal ideas Counts among mediators!

On Rashbam I'd say, You made good effort But return logic to Rambam And Rashi's Drash fort!

Ibn Ezra... I do dread, Attempting to criticize, As I do really like him, When his bad luck does rise!

All right, that was a valiant attempt. In short: no book of Rambam can be called for dummies. Not even the Mishneh Torah, which was written as a supposed replacement to studying the Talmud for less talented Jews. The Guide for the Perplexed is actually for those perplexed in philosophy, and is made for the smartest of people. He's a glanking elitist, as well, on occasions, and is considered the most rationalistic of Rabbis.

Rashi tends to bring Midrashim in his interpretations, that is true. But that's not stealing, especially when most of the time he cites the source. I'm really kind of baffled by the implication that he stole stuff. Plus, he's way more on the mixing Pshat and Drash side, as Rashbam literally had a disagreement with him about the Pshatot that get found every day. So far, I think Rashbam is way more Pshat centered than anything.

Rashbam himself... Well, had I written this I'd probably have inserted "gets overshadowed by his younger brother", and maybe "tries and fails to be his grandpa". The latter refers to his commentary on Bava Batra which is supposed to be a continuation to Rashi who didn't finish writing on this Talmudic tractate. And he bodes well enough, but Rashbam is very noticeably not Rashi. He's a Tosafot writer attempting to write as Rashi, and he fails. Miserably. The other addition I oferred refers to how Rabenu Tam is way more well known, even though (IIRC) he was he youngest brother.

In hindsight, I take back every criticism I had on the Ibn Ezra description. This is 100% on point, he hates everyone and everyone hates him. But I do love seeing him roast people. Like Ben Zuta, the only friend a bull has!

Hopefully that wasn't too antagonizing. And to be honest, Ibn Ezra would've hated my little poem here with passion, due to irregular metre and lack of proper rhyming.

I made a jewish tag yourself meme, with the great commentators of the medieval times, pls enjoy :)

[flamingkorybante]

The thing I keep thinking about from queer talmud class last night is that the writings by Rashi are printed closest to the spine of the book on each page so that when the book is burned, his words are the last to be destroyed. Each printer laying out the book knowing that it will be burned. The consciousness of the pervasive will to destroy us being woven into the fabric of the living intergenerational conversation of our holy teachings.

[gliklofhameln]

Mishneh Torah, 14th century, Spain

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: Does Darth Vader Do Teshuvah?

Someone in a nerdy-Jewish Facebook group I’m a part of recently posed the question, does Darth Vader’s repentance in Return of the Jedi redeem him for his sins in the prequel trilogy? We’re currently in the month of Elul, the weeks leading up to the high holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, so this is a particularly appropriate time to reflect on this question.

In Judaism, redemption is a matter of teshuvah – of returning. If you did something wrong before, the way to be redeemed is to learn that what you did was wrong and then demonstrate that you’ve learned it by returning to the situation and making the right choice this time. As Rambam says in Hilkhot Teshuvah 2:1, “What is complete teshuvah? When a person again confronts a sin they committed, is capable of doing it again, but nonetheless refrains from doing so in order to repent, not simply because they are afraid of the consequences or too weak to carry out the act.”

Darth Vader has, undeniably, sinned. Looking just at Revenge of the Sith, he murders a lot of people, including children, and in doing so contributes to the destruction of the Jedi Order and the rise of the evil Empire. Could he ever be redeemed for this, or for any of the atrocities he committed afterwards, up to and including genocide?

Murder is, to put it lightly, a tricky thing to do teshuvah for. If you kill someone, then they’re dead. You can never go back and decide not to kill that person this time. From this perspective, Vader may never be able to find redemption.

However, this is the Jewish concept of redemption. I have to acknowledge that this isn’t universal. In some religions, redemption comes from confession. In other worldviews, commonly found in movies and books, redemption can come from death.

Star Wars as a franchise subscribes to the “redemption equals death” trope. In this trope, a character who has done evil things in their life realizes the error of their ways and does a big, good deed that results in their death. The narrative makes it clear that this ultimate self-sacrifice is redemptive. Darth Vader’s end is emblematic of this trope, to the point where his picture is currently at the top of the Redemption Equals Death TVTropes page. Near the end of Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader sacrifices himself to save his son, Luke. Vader kills Emperor Palpatine, suffering fatal injuries in the process. We later see that Vader has become one with the Force, a sign that he has been redeemed.

However, as far as Judaism is concerned, you don’t find redemption by dying. Once you’ve died, you can’t go back and try anything again, so a dead person cannot complete teshuvah. Objectively speaking, Darth Vader dies without going back and re-addressing any of his sins. We could interpret this climactic scene as Vader once again facing the choice about whether to let the Emperor destroy the Jedi Order, and choosing differently this time. But that’s a stretch, even for me, and it still doesn’t do anything about all the murder Vader committed.

It would be easy enough for me to leave it at that – that Vader may be redeemed by the rules of this fictional world, but not by Judaism’s requirements for teshuvah.

Except I’m not going to leave it at that, because Rambam acknowledged that there are some situations for which you can’t go back and try again. Returning to Hilchot Teshuvah 2:1, Rambam says, “…but if a person only repented in old age, thus lacking the power to do what they would have done at an earlier point in life, this is not ideal teshuvah but it nonetheless counts and such a person is considered a ba’al teshuvah – a penitent person. Even if a person was a sinner their whole life and then repented on the day of death and died in a state of teshuvah, all sins are forgiven…”

So perhaps there’s another way out for Vader. Perhaps, in his final moments sitting there with Luke on the floor of the Death Star, he became truly penitent. He would never be able to re-address his sins in life, but he was able to make it clear to G-d – uh, to the Force – that he had realized and internalized the error of his ways. By this interpretation, yes, Darth Vader completes teshuvah and is redeemed.

[psychologeek]

Doing some historical research for Batfam fic.

Also some historical Jewish research

Now I think about the Rambam (Maimonides), that was born in Egypt and was smart

Now I think about Ra's Al-Ghul with Persian culture and his search for knowledge.

My brain: ooohhhhh AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES!!!

Anyway

I now have the cursed ship of Ras/Maimonides in my head, and

Brain, what is WRONG with you??

(everything)

[girlactionfigure]

"Moses ben Maimon, commonly known as Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam, was a medieval Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. In his time, he was also a preeminent astronomer and physician, serving as the personal physician of Saladin."

W

Born: 30 March or 6 April 1135, Possibly born 28 March or 4 April 1138, Córdoba, Almoravid Empire (present-day Spain)

Died: 12 December 1204, Fostat, Ayyubid Sultanate (present-day Egypt)

Notable work: Mishneh Torah, The Guide for the Perplexed

As Above So Below

[wisdom-and-such]

"The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal Name." --Tao Te Ching

Compare with 10th century Jewish Philosopher Maimonides in his ' The Guide for the Perplexed ' :

" G-d's existence is absolute...

Consequently it is a false assumption to hold that He has any positive attribute; for He does not possess existence in addition to His essence ;

it therefore cannot be said that The One may be described as an attribute.".

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Artwork - The Rambam

* * * *

"Do not imagine that character is determined at birth. We have been given free will. We ourselves decide whether to make ourselves learned or ignorant, compassionate or cruel, generous or miserly. No one forces us; no one drags us along one path or the other. We ourselves, by our own volition, choose our own way." Maimonides (Rambam)

[The Lights Of Kabbalah]

[torais-life]

Our first Rambam(Maimonides) cames yesterdayyyy!!!

B'H for all the wisdom of the rabbis and tzaddikim of Am Israel 🇮🇱✨

[conscienciacoletiva]

Curso Global da Academia Bnei Baruch de Kabbalah Aula 6 "História da Kab...

[magnetothemagnificent]

Hi first off, I love your blog thank you for creating it and making it such a welcoming space!

"Everything happens for a reason" Is a statement ive really struggled with and wanted to hear your thoughts on. Thank you!

First off, whether someone believes in Divine Providence or not, it is inappropriate for them to say "everything happens for a reason" so someone who is going through a hardship.

Hashgacha Pratit is a concept in Judaism that is often translated as "Divine Providence", and what this term means has a wide spectrum of interpretation across Jewish thought. Some interpret it as meaning that "everything happens for a reason", or "actions have consquences, good or bad", or "there is a divine plan", or "G-d is there to catch you if you mess up", or "there are no coincidences", etc. As with most concepts in Judaism, there's no consensus on the meaning.

I found a really interesting article on the subject, which defines Hashgacha Pratit as "partaking in Divine overflow"- thus having a bit more of G-d's interference in life than normal, rather than G-d pulling the strings for every aspect of life. Honestly it's hard for me to describe this article without suggesting that you read it yourself, so here it is:

Personally, I see Hashgacha Pratit as when there are little coincidences in life where paths coincide or one deviation from the norm leads to something better. It helps me with my anxiety in regards to being very rigid in my plans and breaking down when something unexpected happens- because sometimes, deviations from the plan are good in the end.

But again, regardless, "everything happens for a reason" should never be weaponized against people who are suffering. It's not helpful and not something anyone wants to hear.

[hyperpotamianarch]

Yeah, sure. But. Let's take those scholars' personality, as seen from their books, into account.

Rambam, I think, had low tolerance for stupidity. If you look at the preface to his Mishnah commentary (which he admittedly wrote at a young age), he's very quick to call people who take Midrashim seriously stupid. As a matter of fact, he paraphrases a verse from the Torah to say that. So, if he heard someone saying something dumb, I think he'd give them a stare, possibly call them idiot to their face.

Rashi, on the other hand... well, we only have his commentary. He doesn't give much personality there, which leads me to the assumption he just wants people to understand - though I'm projecting a little. Another bit of personality we see is when Rashbam, his grandson, says they argued and Rashi eventually agreed with him. In addition, he occasionally says: "Yeah, I don't really know what that means, sorry." So, I think he'll be polite and simply explain where they are wrong.

I'm less qualified than usual when it comes to Ramban. However, here's a fun fact we know about him: he participated in a religious debate with Christians and probably won - but still had to flee Catalonia because Christians can sometimes be sore losers. In his commentary, he's not afraid to say when he thinks something is wrong and sometimes uses strong language. So, I think he really is a safe bet regarding putting people in their places.

There are two additional players I'd like to bring to attention, however: Ra'aba, AKA Ibn Ezra, and Ra'avad, Rabbi Avraham Ben David. Both of them are known for devastating comebacks to people they disagree with ("the only friend a bull has is Ben Zuta", "you should burn this guy with the Chametz", respectively. Well, I'm probably misremembering on the latter, but he does have very strongly-worded commentaries). A friend of mine says that Ibn Ezra would make a great rapper - which I disagree with mostly because he was also obsessed with proper metre and rhymes. As were all Sepharadi poets of the time.

I would've said that you should turn to Sepharadim for a withering takedown while Ashkenazim would make for a polite explanation, but that's inaccurate because a. Ra'avad was from Provence. Which technically means he wasn't Sepharadi or Ashkenazi but a secret third in-between thing, but it's easy to categorize him as Ashkenazi. b. Two words: Rabenu Tam. He takes pity of no one, be they his deceased grandfather, or even his older brother who's just trying to complete grandpa's life work. c. Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi. Which would make for a hilarious situation if someone brought up the Khazarian theory of Ashkenazi origin. Point is, he's a Sepharadi Jew, and from what I know of him I think he'll take the polite conversation route.

I think I made this too binary, and I don't really know much about all those people's personalities. So if you have a better idea, go ahead!

Whenever a goy says something dumb about Judaism or Tanach i mentally picture them saying that same thing to rambam and than getting torn to absolute shreds verbally.

[teenageascetic]

“WHEN THOU GOEST FORTH TO BATTLE AGAINST THINE ENEMIES, AND SEEST HORSES, AND CHARIOTS etc. This is a new commandment which he now declared to them as they came into battles. The purport of the verse, For the Eternal your G-d is He that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you is to admonish them against becoming faint-hearted and that they should not fear their enemies. He states that they are not to rely in this matter on their own strength, thinking in their hearts. We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war, but instead they are to turn their hearts only to G-d and rely on His help, thinking that He delighteth not in the strength of the horse, and He taketh no pleasure in the legs of a man, for The Eternal taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that wait for His mercy. He states to fight for you against your enemies meaning that He will make them fall before you by the sword. He states to save you meaning that they will be spared in battle and that not a man among them will be missing, for it would be possible that they vanquish their enemies and that many of them, too, would die, as is the way of battles. Therefore Joshua cried out when about thirty and six men fell in [the battle of] Ai, for in His commandatory war not one hair of their heads should have fallen to the ground, for the battle is the Eternal’s. Now the priest who serves G-d is to admonish [the warriors] to fear Him, and give them assurance [of His help]. The officers, however, speak in the customary way of the world, lest he die in the battle, for in the normal course of events even some people of the group of the victors die. He commanded that these three categories [of people] return because one’s heart is on his [new] house, vineyard, and wife and he will [be the first to] flee.”

-Maimonides on Deuteronomy 20:1.

[tsuyoshikentsu]

It literally is! According to Rambam:

“For it is the principal object of the [Torah] and the axis round which it turns, to blot out these opinions from man’s heart and make the existence of idolatry impossible.

As regards the former Scripture says: “Lest your heart be persuaded,” etc. (Deut. 11:16), “whose heart turneth away to-day,” etc. (ibid. 29:17). 

The actual abolition of idolatry is expressed in the following passage: “Ye shall destroy their altars, and burn their groves in fire” (Deut. 7:5), “and ye shall destroy their name,” etc. ([ibid. 12:3]). 

These two things are frequently repeated; they form the principal and first object of the whole [Torah], as our Sages distinctly told us in their traditional explanation of the words “all that God commanded you by the hand of Moses” (Num. 15:25); for they say, “Hence we learn that those who follow idolatry deny as it were their adhesion to the whole [Torah], and those who reject idolatry follow as it were the whole [Torah].” ([Talmud, Kiddushin 40a 14]) Note it. ”

(Guide for the Perplexed, Part 3 29, trans. Friedlander, bracketed emendations mine)

As usual, I am not a scholar; please consult with your rabbi before relying on my readings.

If you see those pamphlets that Christian’s leave around to evangelize, especially if they’re the ones that look like dollar bills, rip them up and throw them in the trash. It’s a mitzvah

[wisdom-and-such]

“[In regard to His knowledge] He is the Knower, He is the Knowledge, and He is what is known.

He is life; He is the one living, and He is the one who draws down life to Himself.

The same applies with regard to His other attributes. These concepts are difficult to comprehend. A person cannot expect to gain a complete understanding of the matter from two or three of my lines.”

—— Rambam; Rabbinic scholar, mystic, and court physician to Saladin. On the subject of the One, non-corporeal creator of the Universe