MAIMONIDES, MOSES, also called by the Jews Rambam, from the initial letters =ni p:Pp 11 110:1 'I, R. Moses b. Maimun, and by the Arabians AM Amram Musa b. Maimun Obeid Allah, was born at Cordova, March 3oth, 1135. This great luminary, the Glory of Israel, the second Moses, the Reformer of Judaism, as he is called, was first initiated, when a youth, in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Talmud, Jewish literature, mathe matics, and astronomy, by his father who was a thorough scholar. He had scarcely passed his thirteenth year when his native place, Cordova, was taken by the Almohades (May or June 48), and the fanatic caliph issued a decree that, on pain of exile, the Jews and the Christians must alike embrace Islamism, which compelled his parents to emigrate with the greater part of the Jewish com munity, and travel about, as he himself tells us, ' by land and by sea,' without finding a resting place for the sole of his foot. At the age of twenty-three (1158), he showed his extraordinary powers of comprehension and elucidation in a treatise on the Jewish calendar, based on astro nomical principles (1131/1 ram), which he com posed for a friend ; and in the same year, whilst wandering about from place to place, he also began his stupendous Commentary on the Mishna. So great was then already his knowledge of the Tal mud, that he could dispense with books when engaged on this gigantic work. Twelve months after (1159-60), he went with his parents to Fez, where they were compelled, at the peril of their lives, outwardly to embrace Islamism. For this he was attacked by a co-religionist, and replied to it in a treatise entitled A Letter on Religious Perse cution (10n1 rf13N), or, A treatise on Glorifying God (own nntin)—i.e., by suffering martyr dom—which is a most ingenious plea for those who have not the courage to submit to death for their religion, and who, having outwardly re nounced their faith, continue secretly to practice their religion. This maiden production of Mai monides, which he composed about 1160-64, and in which he propounds his idea of Judaism, Was published by Geiger, Moses ben Maimon, part i., Breslau 1850.
Maimonides was now secretly engaged in en couraging and preserving those of his brethren in Judaism who, like himself, had outwardly pro fessed Mohammedanism. But this endangered his
life, and he was compelled to flee from Fez (April 18, 165). He took refuge on board a vessel, which, after a most dangerous voyage, reached St. Jean d'Acre, May 16, 1165. From thence he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and then to Egypt, where he lost his father (1166), and finally settled at Fostat, the port of Cairo, delivering lectures on philosophy. In all his wanderings, however, he devoted every spare moment to the Commentary on the Mishna, which he began at twenty-three, and which he now finished (1168), after ten years' labour. This remarkable work, which was written in Arabic, and entitled The Book of Light (Arab.
AcithN Heb. 1t0), is designed to simplify the study of the exposition of the Law or Pentateuch, handed down by tradition, which was rendered exceedingly difficult by the super-com mentaries and discussions which had accumulated thereon since the close of the Mishna to the days of Maimonides. It is preceded by a general elaborate introduction, in which he discourses on the true nature of prophecy, shows its relationship to the law given on Sinai, treats on the figurative language occurring in the Pentateuch and the Prophets, etc., etc. In the special introduction to the Tract San hedrin: he, for the first time, defined and formally laid down the Jewish creed, which consists of the following thirteen articles There is one God, who is a perfect being, the Creator and preserver of all things ; 2. He is an indivisible unity; 3. He is incorporeal and immutable ; 4. He is eternal, and no being existed before Him; 5. He alone is to be worshipped; 6. He endowed chosen men with the gift of prophecy; 7. Moses was incom parably the greatest of all prophets; 8. The whole Law—i.e., the Pentateuch—was given by God to Moses ; 9. This law is complete and unalterable ; to. God is omniscient, and takes cognizance of all the thoughts and deeds of man ; I r. He will judge both the righteous and the wicked; 12. Messiah is to come, and he may appear any day; and, 13. There is to be a general resurrection of the dead. This introduction of a definite creed may be con sidered as one of the most important events in the Jewish history since the destruction of Jerusalem.