Moses Maimonides’ Treatise on Resurrection An Inquiry into its Authenticity By Lea Naomi Goldfeld Ktav Publishing House, 1986, 167 pages Maimonides made it very clear in his work called Chelek that he felt that the intellect goes to the world to come as soon as a person dies and remains there for eternity. He states [...]
Maimonides Essential Teachings on Jewish Faith & Ethics The Book of Knowledge & the Thirteen Principles of Faith Annotated & Explained By Rabbi Marc D. Angel, PhD Skylight Illuminations, 2012, 177 pages There are many divergent interpretations of the great sage Moses Maimonides (1138-1204). Some scholars, such as Leo Strauss of the University of Chicago [...]
By Israel Drazin Rabbis who offer legal decisions frequently say that customs that have been practiced for some time have the same power as laws, but actually some do and some don’t. Traditions are a twin sister to customs. Generally customs refer to behaviors and traditions to ideas, but people use the terms interchangeably. [...]
By Israel Drazin Maimonides wrote his Mishneh Torah, his code of Jewish law. About a century after his death in 1204, Jacob ben Asher (1270–c. 1340) composed a code of Jewish law that he called the Tur. Roughly two centuries later, Joseph Karo (1488–1575), compiled his law books, which he named the Shulchan Arukh. More [...]
By Israel Drazin It is certainly true that most Jews today, including most rabbis, see a distinction between ritual and social laws. The first focuses on God and the second on people. In the Ten Commandments, for example, the laws forbidding idols and those requiring rest on the Sabbath are seen by most Jews [...]
By Israel Drazin I think that the messianic age is not a miraculous affair and the messiah is not a supernatural figure. There will be a gradual evolutionary and educative process that will improve people and encourage everyone, or nearly everyone, to live in harmony and work together to improve every individual and society. I [...]
By Israel Drazin I don’t think that people need to believe that a soul exists. The currently-used Hebrew word for soul is nefesh. Nefesh is in the Torah, but it does not mean soul in Scripture. It means “a person” or “life force.” Thus when Leviticus 2:1 speaks of a nefesh bringing an [...]
By Israel Drazin Many rabbis have, in effect, abandoned Bible study to fundamentalist Christians. Very few of their books that ostensibly address the Torah actually do so. Instead, usually without disclosing the fact, the rabbis who composed these volumes and the rabbis who deliver synagogue sermons focus on the midrashic versions of the biblical [...]
What are we Expected to Know about God? By Israel Drazin I am more inclined to accept the Maimonidean position. The term “tradition” is used frequently in discussions about Jewish values and practices. Maimonides warns us to be skeptical of traditions, no matter what their source and no matter how many people insist [...]
Maimonides’ Confrontation with Mysticism By Menachem Kellner Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2011, 343 pages Anyone, of any religion, agnostic, or atheist, wanting to understand the truth about life, the ideas taught by the great philosopher Moses Maimonides (1138-1204), should read this splendid easily comprehensible book first published in 2006, reprinted because of its [...]
The Bible’s Secret By Israel Drazin The ancients knew that it is impossible to tell the truth to the general public. Most people lack the ability to understand because they are taught wrong ideas by teachers who were not taught the truth. This misinformation became the basis of everything they know. Telling them that [...]
Persecution and the Art of writing By Leo Strauss The University of Chicago Press, 1980, 204 pages Reviewed by Israel Drazin This book, first published in 1952, is a classic that is quoted frequently when people ask: do philosophers say what they really believe or do they hide the truth? Strauss explains [...]
Torah in the Observatory: Gersonides, Maimonides, Song of Songs By Menachem Kellner Academic Studies Press, 2010, 374 pages Reviewed by Israel Drazin Menachem Kellner is one of the most knowledgeable scholars of Maimonides and Gersonides, the author of many books and articles about them and philosophy generally, and his new book is a [...]
Between Rashi and Maimonides Themes in Medieval Jewish Thought, Literature and Exeg Edited by E. Kanarfogel and M. Sokolow Ktav Publishing House, 2010, 341 pages Reviewed by Israel Drazin This is a collection of fifteen scholarly articles discussing the two great sages Rashi (1040-1105) and Maimonides (1138-1204) who lived almost exactly a century [...]
An Intelligent Person is not Moral By Israel Drazin Morals are rules of proper conduct, what is good and what is bad. They inform people how to live a proper and safe life. Moral deeds seem to be what all people should do. But is this true? Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) seems [...]
Torah Umaddah By Rabbi Norman Lamm Maggid Books, 2010, 247 pages Reviewed by Israel Drazin Should religious people shun everything secular, even science? This question bothered many religious people for centuries. Some solved it by living in isolation, wearing clothes that distinguish them and keep them apart, and insisting that their children not [...]
The Treaties of the Pool By Obadyah son of Abraham son of Maimonides Translated with commentary by Paul Felton The Octagon Press, 1981, 146 pages Maimonides (1138-1204), was the rationalist par excellence, the greatest Jewish thinker. Yet neither his son Abraham nor grandson Obadyah, who wrote this book, nor any of his descendants, [...]
Readers of Gil Yehuda's review of my book Maimonides: Reason Above All will understand why I like it better than all the other reviews about my writings. I enjoying Dr. Israel Drazin’s book, Maimonides: Reason Above All, and I wanted to share this review. First I’ll summarize the structure and content of the book. Then I’ll [...]
Conversations about Maimonides With Israel Drazin In view of the anniversary of Moses Maimonides’ death on December 27, 2010 – he died in 1204, 806 years ago – a reader of Dr. Israel Drazin’s four books on Maimonides asked him the following questions. Question: People say about Maimonides that “from Moses to Moses there was none [...]
